Tasmanian students who receive an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank score of less than 80 would not be admitted to teaching degrees under a plan announced by the federal Labor party.
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Deputy leader Tanya Plibersek warned on Sunday the party would introduce mandatory minimum ATAR scores for teaching degrees and accused universities of “dumbing down” the teaching degree.
Last year, the University of Tasmania had about 300 students graduate with a Bachelor of Teaching.
To qualify for automatic admission for the degree, UTAS looks for students who have an ATAR of 65 or higher, which is posted on its website under the Bachelor of Education specifications.
In comparison, Deakin University in Geelong requires an ATAR of 70 to be admitted into its Bachelor of Education degree.
The University of Newcastle requires a “selection rank” of 60 or above for its Bachelor of Education (Primary).
Australian Council of Deans of Education president Tania Aspland said university admission was a complex process and ATAR is only one aspect of that admission.
“A threat to mandate a cap on ATARs of 80 may sound like a quick fix but, in reality, fewer than one-in-four students are chosen on the basis of their ATAR alone,” Professor Aspland said.
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“There is no evidence to show that those with higher ATARS become better teachers as non-academic traits are also vitally important in teaching quality.”
Ms Plibersek said the plan was aimed at addressing marks that were getting “lower and lower each year.”
"We have parents and teachers themselves saying to high-achieving high school students, 'whatever you do, don't waste your mark on a teaching degree. And I think that is heart-breaking" she said.
"We need to ensure that people who will become passionate and quality teachers choose teaching because they desperately want to shape the next generation, not because they don't know what to do with their own lives.
A spokesperson for UTAS declined to comment directly on Labor’s proposal but said the university remained competitive with its requirements for its prospective Education students.
Last year, UTAS joined a number of other universities and implemented the Teacher Performance Assessment, which all graduate teachers needed to pass before they graduated.
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