LEARNING may have been interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, but 2020's Higher School Certificate students should not receive special dispensation.
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That's the opinion of the head of the NSW Secondary Principals Council (NSPC) as students complete their HSC Trials in the lead up to their exams.
NSPC represents principals of government schools and colleges across the state and its president, Craig Petersen, said teachers, students and parents might have had a year of interrupted learning, but this should not result in exemptions for students.
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"It's too hard to give dispensation ... every kid has had a degree of interruption," he said.
"If there was a COVID case in the middle of the HSC there could be a group appeal."
Mr Petersen said that the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) students receive based on their HSC results is "simply a ranking system".
"It doesn't matter whether I get 90 per cent of 100 per cent, if I was first in my class I'm still first in my class," he said.
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Mr Petersen said schools have played a very critical role in assisting students as the COVID-19 pandemic has continued this year.
"This is where the school and the teachers are really critical because they know where their kids are up to and who is behind," he said.
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"They're putting on extra workshops and extra classes."
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) said 2020 HSC will go ahead with COVID safe exam protocols to protect everyone involved - students, supervisors and markers.
"NESA is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of Year 11 and 12 students throughout their journey and has exam contingency plans in place to deal with a wide range of potential COVID 19 scenarios," it announced online.
Some of the HSC changes include:
- Allowing principals to decide on the number, type and weighting of school-based assessments for the HSC and Year 11 school-based assessment. NESA's principles of assessment continue to apply.
- Increasing the number of times Year 12 students yet to meet the HSC minimum standard can sit the minimum standard online tests.
- Cancelling the requirement for NESA mandated VET work placements.
Check out the full overview to the 2020 HSC.