ON CAMPUS
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post-school options. Here are some of the
most common questions I have been asked
by Year 12 students over the past days
and weeks:
The virus has already impacted my
schooling. Will it impact my plans to go
to university or TAFE?
Absolutely not. Zero chance. A big nope
on that one. We get that it can be difficult
to study Year 12 from home. We get that
not all homes and families are the same,
and some of you will be disadvantaged
by this. But if you have tertiary education
aspirations, and you are prepared to push
yourself this year, put in the work, and
seek help and support from your teachers
and schools, then you will find all sorts of
flexible arrangements waiting for you at
universities and TAFEs.
Should I just give up on 2020 now and
repeat Year 12 next year?
This is not a good option for most students.
Picture yourself and some of your friends
restarting Year 12 next year alongside
everyone who is in Year 11 today, in
crowded classrooms, competing for limited
spots at university and TAFE afterwards.
Should I just park 2020 in the shade, kick
back, leave school at the end of the year and
take 2021 as it comes?
You were the first group of Year 7 kids
to be removed from primary school and
dropped into our high school system that
wasn’t quite as ready for the learning and
infrastructure needs of pre-teens like it is
today. As Year 12 students in 2020, you
will be the first students in Queensland
expected to negotiate the new external
ATAR examinations as we say goodbye to
the old OP system.
And if you hadn’t already been through
enough to reach your most vital, final
year of schooling, along comes a global
pandemic, a societal shutdown, an
economic calamity, and an unprecedented
interruption to your education.
No adult can understand what you are
going through because no other peace-
time Year 12 school cohort has ever had to
deal with anything like this before. But that
doesn’t mean I can’t help. As a university
vice-chancellor, I spend a lot of time
talking to schools and students about their
I would come up with a stronger plan
than that. The jobs market next year
will be tough. Experts are forecasting
record unemployment levels, so you’d
be competing for low-skilled positions
alongside hundreds of thousands of more
experienced and higher-skilled workers
(many with families to support) who were
made unemployed this year. If university
isn’t an option for you, consider vocational
training at TAFE to give yourself higher skills
and stronger employment prospects.
How can things get any worse for me?
Easy. Simply neglect your Year 12 studies
and blow the next six months on Netflix,
Xbox and TikTok. Seriously, worst possible
choice, and completely unnecessary.
Your teachers are working around the
clock on solutions to keep your studies
going at home. They may not have all the
answers in place today, but you should
know this: Queensland has one of the
most advanced education systems in the
world, staffed by the best teachers on
the planet. They are currently deploying
every resource, program and expert into
finding a way for you to continue receiving
a world class education for the weeks and
months to come.
Right now, universities and TAFEs all over
the state are working on innovative ways
to support and enrol Year 12 school leavers
whose education has been interrupted
by COVID-19.
My own university is working directly with
school principals to identify eager students
who might benefit from early enrolment
processes. I have been holding webinars
with schools to find creative solutions to
keep your study aspirations on track, like
the Start Uni Now initiative, or finding ultra-
flexible ways to enrol.
The universities and TAFEs don’t have
every answer in place today, but they will be
ready for you soon. University and TAFE will
absolutely remain an option for you.
But while your teachers, universities and
TAFEs figure this out – and they will – they
are going to need you to keep your eye on
the prize. That means:
• Don’t treat 2020 as a Netflix vacation.
• Be patient with your teachers; they have
been asked to do the extraordinary and
they are focused entirely on you.
• Stay in touch with your universities and
TAFEs; reach out to them and they
will offer you information, flexibility
and support, even while you are still in
Year 12.
• Use technology to check in with your
friends and classmates regularly; the
coming weeks will be made easier by you
looking after one another.
• Be forgiving of your parents, these are
stressful times for them as well.
• But most importantly, stay on track with
your studies and look after yourself. Don’t
waste time worrying about things beyond
your control – the system will find ways
to make adjustments for you. Instead,
focus on the things you can control,
including what you do with today.
Remember, yours is the cohort that
has seen more oddness embedded into
your educational journey than any other.
Because of this, you have developed a
resilience you probably didn’t know you
had. You will have everything you need
to make it through Year 12 successfully
this year. Just stay on track, and keep off
the couch. ■
Professor Nick Klomp is vice-chancellor
and president of CQUniversity Australia.
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