This year the Department for Child Protection celebrated the accomplishment of young people in care who completed their Year 12 or equivalent at the Adelaide Town Hall. A number of young people, who have been in care and undertook Year 12 or equivalent as part of the ‘Class of 2020’, gathered for a special ceremony at Adelaide Town Hall on Tuesday 8 December 2020 where they were presented with a certificate of achievement from Minister Sanderson.
This year the Department for Child Protection celebrated the accomplishment of young people in care who completed their Year 12 or equivalent at the Adelaide Town Hall. A number of young people, who have been in care and undertook Year 12 or equivalent as part of the ‘Class of 2020’, gathered for a special ceremony at Adelaide Town Hall on Tuesday 8 December 2020 where they were presented with a certificate of achievement from Minister Sanderson who congratulated the students. The group in attendance represented one of the largest group of young people in care to complete their Stage 1 or Stage 2 SACE studies in recent years.
For young people in care, senior schooling can be difficult at the best of times, but this year has been made even more trying with the disruption caused by COVID-19. The fact such a large number of young people in care were still able to complete their studies is testament to their resilience and determination. Completing secondary school is an important milestone for young people and opens up an array of further study and employment pathways.
SACE completion rates among young people in care is among one of the key aims of a shared plan of action between the Department for Child Protection and the Department for Education. The Plan builds on existing collaboration between the two agencies, outlining actions they will jointly pursue to help children and young people in care achieve their personal best.
The state government is also working in partnership with Catholic Education South Australia to make practical and real differences in the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in our communities. The Catholic Schools Scholarship Program covers the full costs of tuition, uniforms, textbooks, excursion and extracurricular activities, continuing each year until the student completes their schooling. With 100 scholarships currently on offer, the program is designed to benefit children and young people in care in both metropolitan and regional SA, specifically students new to the Catholic education system.