The unpopular VCE subjects that could face the axe

3 hours ago 2

Nine VCE language subjects are at risk of being cut as the state government examines ways to get final secondary school exams back on track.

There were fewer than 10 students last year in each of Korean First Language, Hungarian, Auslan, Bengali, Classical Greek, Swedish, Indonesian First Language, Armenian and Classical Hebrew.

With the same time and effort required to prepare subjects for 10 students as required for a general maths or English test for thousands of students around the state, the unpopular courses are placing a strain on assessors.

The figures are from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, which develops and carries out the state’s curriculum and exams for year 11 and year 12 students.

The nine language subjects had the lowest student numbers of all VCE subjects. An additional 27 subjects, most of them also languages, each had fewer than 100 students.

The state has one of the largest subject offerings in the country, with 116 topics students can complete as part of the Victorian Certificate of Education.

The resources required to maintain so many subjects have been identified by a recent review into the VCAA as a major challenge facing the exam authority.

Victoria has one of the widest ranges of subject offerings in the country.

Victoria has one of the widest ranges of subject offerings in the country.Credit: Joe Armao

“Many of the challenges in the VCAA can, in part, be traced back to the complexity of managing such a large range and number of subjects, all requiring a significant base workload,” governance expert Dr Yehudi Blacher found in the report published last month.

Blacher’s review came after last year’s exam debacle, when questions on 65 test papers were accidentally made public before the exams.

He said the Education Department and the exam authority should review low-enrolment subjects, and consider whether they could be delivered through a model under which first-year university subjects were taken as part of secondary students’ final year.

“Or alternatively, whether there are sufficient alternatives available in adjacent study areas to retire the subject,” the expert said in the report.

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Blacher also suggested the VCAA could assess whether languages with fewer enrolments could be taken without an external exam, similar to an unscored VET subject model. This would allow a subject to contribute to a student’s ATAR as a fifth or sixth subject with an “extrapolated score”.

He also recommended the authority and department find out whether a language had fewer than 15 students nationally who sit the exam.

Other subjects with fewer than 100 students included Australian politics (with 86), music composition (93 students) and Chinese language, culture and society (77 students).

Indonesian First Language may be on the chopping block after just four students sat the exam last year. Indonesian Second Language is a more popular choice, with more than 300 students taking the exam each year.

Another language subject with fewer than 100 students is Tamil, a language spoken in Tamil Nadu in India and some provinces of Sri Lanka. It is also an official language in Singapore, and taught as a subject there. Last year there were 46 students enrolled to study Tamil in VCE. This year there are more than 50.

Nithi Nithianandan, director and principal at language school Bharathi Academy, said the language had been growing since it was introduced as a subject in 1997.

At the language school one in three students doing Tamil for VCE earned marks above 40, he said.

The most common question he faced was about what students do after completing the subject at VCE level, Nithianandan said.

A review found a consistent, more considered approach was needed to dealing with low enrolment courses.

A review found a consistent, more considered approach was needed to dealing with low enrolment courses. Credit: Louie Douvis

“If they get high marks, they come and teach it at [the academy], and they relate very well with the younger people who are studying it.”

Some also recently took part in a three-hour performance of a 2000-year-old Tamil epic that was staged in Melbourne and Sydney.

“This was an experiment we did, and after that, we are starting the next production,” he said.

While Nithianandan was positive about the growth of Tamil, the governance expert who reviewed VCAA said there was an ad hoc response to subjects with limited enrolments.

“A consistent, more considered approach to addressing low enrolment courses would enable the VCAA to better address issues arising from low-enrolment courses,” Dr Blacher found in his review.

Glenn Savage is a professor of education futures at the University of Melbourne and said there were key moments in the evolution of the state’s curriculum in terms of the viability of subjects.

“The review identifies that this is one of those moments, suggesting careful and evidence-informed appraisal is needed of subject offerings, and I think it is entirely appropriate to undertake such an investigation,” he said.

The academic said a considered approach to the feasibility of low-enrolment subjects was needed, and looking at alternative delivery models made sense.

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“Exploring alternative delivery models may make good sense if it helps maintain diversity in the curriculum while ensuring subjects remain viable and sustainable,” he said.

The professor said decisions would need to be based on deep consultation with affected educators and young people.

“If done well, this process won’t be about devaluing any particular subject, but about ensuring the long-term strength and coherence of the VCE.”

The VCAA confirmed it would consult interested parties before implementing any changes to the studies offered as part of the VCE, and there were no plans to change the offerings next year.

“The VCAA board and new CEO are prioritising the successful delivery of the 2025 VCE examinations and preparations for the 2026 exams,” a VCAA spokesman said.

The Education Department was approached for comment.

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