by Justin Brosnan and Edited for Online by Joshua Bristow

The Queensland Government has commissioned an independent review of the Overall Position tertiary entrance process with early results suggesting the OP system is no longer viable.

As the only state within Australia still operating with the OP entrance process, critics say the removal of this system represents a timely push towards uniformity across the country.

Queensland Teachers’ Union president Kevin Bates says Queensland should not rush into selecting a new entrance procedure solely because it allows for nation-wide educational uniformity.

“One of the things that we want to be cautious about is the notion that we want to rush towards national consistently without necessarily considering the potential negative consequences of jettisoning the important state based systems we’ve had in place for many years, ” Mr Bates said.

Former principal and educational consultancy firm Doctrina Education founder Ken Swan says the OP system is out dated and enforces the negative ideology that getting a good OP is paramount to having a successful career.

“The reality is that there are multiple ways of getting employment and finding successful careers for young people and the stress associated with the OP is a stress that I think is unnecessary for young people to bear.”

Queensland Secondary Principals’ Association President Andrew Pierpoint says the OP system has been in place for more than 20 years and in this time the courses being studied by students have changed dramatically.

He believes the entrance procedures should evolve to meet these changes in course selection.

“I think it’s time the Australian Council for Education Research have a bit of a look at what the drivers of tertiary education and work is at the moment and I think it’s time for a bit of a look and a review of all those entrance procedures,” Mr Pierpoint said.

He also says many alternatives to the OP are being evaluated and reviewed.

“We’re a long way from defining what the end product is actually going to be so we need to view the thoughts around as exactly that.”