Tasmania needs to take this into account, especially when it comes to education.

The new year has come with a new education department secretary, whose role involves leading the public education system in Tasmania.

One interview with Jenny Gale later and I am eager to see the difference the former teacher is going to make.

Ms Gale said one of the first things she planned to do in her new role is put in place evaluations or measures that will help the state judge how successful it is in education and what it needed to improve on.

"I'm not a strong believer in change for change's sake," Ms Gale said.

"I think it would serve our students much better if we take a good look at what we might be doing and find ways to improve that."

This is the exact visionary Tasmania needs to move forward.

Too many times has the education system been swapped and changed in Tasmania.

While we are making improvements, it is often slow improvement, as the changes we are making are not small fixes, they are complete new ideas.

Changes to the state's TAFE system, from TAFE Tasmania, to the Tasmanian Polytechnic and Skills Institute, now to TasTAFE, was a perfect example of something that was changed just for the sake of change.

It was the same with Newstead College.

Technically I did not attend Newstead College, despite telling people that.

I attended the Tasmanian Academy, as the two years I was at college were the years Newstead was referred to as the Tasmanian Academy and the Tasmanian Polytechnic.

The year after I left, it returned to Newstead College.

Starting the new year, our politicians need to ask themselves: Are the changes they are making just for change's sake, or is it actually going to make a big difference?

I understand the argument with extending remote schools to year 12.

It is going to make schools more accessible for many isolated students, in turn helping improve our low retention rate.

But is it something that is really needed in city schools?

The college system is a fantastic model. It allows students to grow, build independence and get ready to enter the real world.

Is it something that needs to be modified for the sake of change and at a large cost, just to try and get a few more kids to stay in school?

Or is there a way we can improve the transition between high school and college?

Our new education secretary Ms Gale wants to include principals, teachers and students in the conversation about what Tasmania is doing well in education and what it needs to do better at.

Including students is a fantastic idea.

Someone once said , "when politicians visit schools, the kids should present to them, rather than the politician just talking at the students".

That is another fantastic idea.

Students are the state's future and the ones who know better than anyone what is and is not working with our education system.

We need to get more people talking about education and ways we can actually improve it, rather than just change it for change's sake.

Maybe then we can make a real, lasting difference.