Principal rues loss of honour courses
Anna Patty Education Editor
September 30, 2008
THE principal of the top selective school in the state fears the Higher School Certificate will be dumbed down when distinction courses for elite students are phased out from next year.
Larissa Treskin, the principal of James Ruse Agricultural High School, said she was dismayed at the decision to cut distinction courses, which top students study through university and which count towards their HSC and university entry score.
This year 93 students are enrolled in one of the three distinction courses, comparative literature, cosmology and philosophy, at a cost to the NSW Board of Studies of up to $279,000.
The board confirmed it will no longer offer comparative literature next year or the remaining two courses by 2010.
It is proposing to offer elite students the opportunity to apply for early entry into university courses, which would not count towards a student's university admission's index. The cost to students and viability of the proposed alternative to universities is yet to be negotiated.
Ms Treskin said the distinction courses, which the board says cost about $3000 a student, target academically elite students. The programs are pitched at levels beyond first-year university courses.
At James Ruse up to 20 students each year study a distinction course, with philosophy the most popular among year 12 students and cosmology in year 11.
Ms Treskin said the distinction courses challenged the "remarkable minds" of some of the brightest students in Australia.
"To remove the possibility of studying a distinction course is a huge disadvantage for gifted and talented students," she said. "To do so with no warning, and with no possibility of changing planned pathways to the HSC, is blatant discrimination.
"Surely, as a society, we can do better for our brightest 100 students than cutting this avenue for demonstrating excellence."
Teachers have already complained about NSW Board of Studies' cost-cutting plans to standardise the length and structure of HSC exam papers across different subjects.
A spokeswoman for the board said the cosmology and philosophy distinction courses would be phased out only if suitable alternatives were established.
