Sudanese VCE students score well

By Shaun Inguanzo
SPRINGVALE Secondary College has successfully helped nine Sudanese refugee students complete their Victorian Certificates of Education after spending just two years in the country.
The Sandown Road school also had five Year 12 students with Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Ranking scores of more than 90 out of a possible 99.95.
College dux was Viet Do, who scored 98.9.
Springvale Secondary College head of senior school Adrienne Koss said the school had 50 Year 12 students who all did ‘amazingly well’.
Thirty-three per cent of its Year 12s scored more than 80 and the school had a VCE pass rate of 98 per cent.
Ms Koss said at least eight students had been offered scholarships so far, from universities including Monash and Melbourne.
Each scholarship is worth $6000 to go towards each year of the students’ university course.
But one of the most remarkable feats was the school’s nine Sudanese students, who after just two years in the country have passed the VCE and, in particular, its English component.
“These are outstanding results, especially because many of our students are from non-English speaking backgrounds or refugee backgrounds,” Ms Koss said.