The apparent school retention rate is the number of full-time students who are enrolled in Year 12 in a given year expressed as a percentage of their cohort group at the commencement of secondary schooling.
Source:
NSW Department of Education and Training (unpublished data) and Australian Bureau of Statistics. Schools 2005. ABS Catalogue no. 4211.0
The estimated lifetime cost to Australia of each early school-leaver is $74,000. Half of this is a direct monetary cost and the remaining half is a social cost. Costs borne largely by the individual early school-leaver include reduced chances of employment, fewer opportunities for job mobility and training, decreased financial security, and reduced cultural enjoyment. Examples of the costs to government and the community of early school-leaving include increased social welfare costs, increased demand for health services, higher costs of crime prevention and detection, and decreased social cohesion (King, 1999).
The Year 12 retention rate in NSW doubled between 1978 and 1994, reaching a high of 70.6% in 1993. It then decreased to 67.2% in 1997 and 1998, before increasing gradually to 71.1% in 2005. NSW has a Year 12 school retention rate below the Australian average of 75.3% and was ranked fifth among the eight Australian states and territories, behind the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia (ABS, 2006).
The retention rate in non-government schools was consistently higher than in government schools, and in 2005 was 80.6%, compared with 71.1% in government schools. Government school retention rates may be more greatly affected by students transferring to the TAFE system to complete their secondary education. Transfers between government and non-government sectors also affect retention rates.
In NSW in 2005 the retention rate for Aboriginal students to year 10 was 83.3% compared to 97.4% for non-Aboriginal students. The difference between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students was even more significant in the retention rates to year 12 which were 32.1% and 72.7% respectively.
Female students have consistently higher retention rates. In 2005 in NSW, the Year 12 retention rate for females was 76.3%%, compared with 66.0% for males, however males may be more likely than females to leave school to complete their education in the TAFE vocational training system (ABS, 2006).
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Population Health Division. The health of the people of New South Wales -
Report of the Chief Health Officer. Sydney: NSW Department of Health. Available at:
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/chorep/soc/soc_retent.htm. Accessed (insert date of access).
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