Media Release: OUR VCE IS ACE: KOSKY

FROM THE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION

DATE: Thursday, May 12, 2005

OUR VCE IS ACE: KOSKY

The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) could go national in a new push to confirm it’s
Australian status and attract more international students to Victoria.

The Minister for Education and Training, Lynne Kosky, today announced all VCE certificates could soon be badged with an Australian Certificate of Education (ACE) trademark.

Ms Kosky said the VCE already met national qualification standards, but the creation of the trademark officially confirmed the certificate as both a national and international qualification meeting stringent Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) requirements.

Australia’s state and territory Education Ministers recently lodged an application to trade mark the term “Australian Certificate of Education” and an associated logo. If approved, the trade mark would give State and Territory education authorities exclusive right to use the term in their jurisdictions.

Ms Kosky said that it was up to each of the States and Territories as to how they utilised the trade mark.

“In Victoria, the names of the VCE and the Victorian Certificate of Applied Education (VCAL) will not change. This is simply recognition of the certificates importance and standing in the national and international education community.

“The VCE is recognised nationally and overseas and the VCAL is attracting increasing interest from other jurisdictions, but we will also style them, with pride, as Australian Certificates of Education.”

Ms Kosky said there are now a number a growing of countries including Indonesia and China offering the VCE as a program in their schools.

“With more and more overseas students coming to Victoria to study the VCE we felt there should be no doubt about the certificate’s importance,” Ms Kosky said.

“The VCE and VCAL conform with the stringent requirements of the Australian Qualifications Framework. Senior secondary certificates of the other States and Territories similarly conform to these requirements.

“In meeting the national standards, these certificates are all Australian certificates of education and are recognised as such internationally. The Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Ranking (ENTER) is already used across Australia to ensure consistency and the highest possible standards for tertiary study across states and territories.”