Para West Adult Campus is one of four designated adult re-entry high schools in South Australia, all located in suburbs of Adelaide, and it provides education and training services to adult re-entry students from across the northern areas of Adelaide. South Australia differs from the rest of Australia in that elsewhere adults wanting to complete their secondary education generally undertake the required senior secondary courses in TAFE colleges or other VET providers, with only a relatively small minority re-entering a secondary school.101 Para West evolved from a more traditional Year 8-12 secondary school102 in 1988 following a restructure review of secondary education due to falling enrolments in the Elizabeth-Munno Para region.
Para West operates in one of the most disadvantaged regions in the nation, on a range of socio-economic indicators,103 including high rates of unemployment, and the lowest urban tertiary participation rate in the nation and third to lowest overall after remote regions in the Northern Territory and the Kimberleys (288th out of 290 rankings).104 The area serviced by the school suffers disproportionate disadvantage, with high concentrations of single parent and low-income families with young children living in Housing Trust accommodation. Isolation and limited transport facilities make access to jobs, services, education and entertainment very difficult. Many of the school’s students experience social and cultural poverty, which isolates them and their children from the wider community and hinders participation in mainstream education.
In addition to providing students with a second opportunity to complete their high school education, the Para West Adult Campus offers vocational and outreach programs to the community, and has forged strong links with the University of South Australia, vocational training providers and other community networks. Para West’s one thousand or so students include a high proportion of young mothers, with South Australia currently having the highest proportion of teenage pregnancies nationally. Its educational offerings include vocational education, night classes and an emphasis on information technology and the visual arts.