Year 12 students from across the region last Friday breathed a collective sigh of relief after finishing their final year.
They adapted to home schooling, innovated with the way they studied, and found a new normal.
Now, they’ll enter some of the most difficult job market conditions of modern times – restrictions still in place, an economic recession, and still some uncertainty.
But there’s hope, and some students on Friday were grateful that they’d made it at all.
“We weren’t sure how things would go,” one graduate from Canterbury College said. “At least we look like getting a vaccine, which will hopefully make it better for everyone. I’m going to university, so the world has three years to sort itself out for me.”
Many graduates will still venture to the Gold Coast, despite official Schoolies Week celebrations being cancelled.
Others are heading to beach resorts at the Sunshine Coast and further north.
Education Minister Grace Grace congratulated the graduating class of 2020 who have experienced a year like no other.
“They have shown so much courage, resilience and patience during what’s been a very difficult time with COVID-19,” she said
“We know it hasn’t been easy but this cohort is no stranger to a challenge. These students are the first full cohort to graduate since the introduction of Prep in 2007, the first Year 7s at high school and the first seniors to complete a new QCE system.
“The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) now becomes the standard pathway to further study, replacing the Overall Position (OP), for these students.”
