The earlier they do it the better. These attributes are also the foundation for further study and the basis for vocational learning for a competitive economy. Different students learn in different ways. The pathways for students are different because of different starting-points and different destinations. Whatever the background or circumstance of students, learning in state schools should give them the opportunity to achieve outcomes at key junctures in their development, particularly the completion of a recognised Year 12.
Schools are the focus of expertise in learning.
This expertise and these relationships combine so that the learning program for the students at the school is a locally negotiated response to the needs of students. Living with the increasing complexity of society, rapid social and economic change and the diversity of the student population mean that schools have to be flexible in organising their learning programs. They need authority over their own affairs to have the flexibility to respond to the unique needs of their students. Schools, in partnership with parents, have a social role that comes from the pursuit of the public interest, equity and their responsibility for the welfare of students. Schools are community assets, central to community learning and development.