INDEPENDENT Learning Centre (ILC) students have celebrated their milestone academic achievements after a year of hard work.
Members of the South East community gathered at the Mount Gambier City Hall on Wednesday to celebrate students completing their South Australian Certificate of Education and other achievements.
The centre works with disadvantaged teenagers or early school leavers, helping them transition into the workforce or embark on further study.
ILC manager David Burt is proud of the students’ educational journeys and congratulated the class of 2018.
“I hope the students have gained life skills from attending the centre, but more importantly we want them to be fabulous community members,” he said.
“We try and make their education as holistic and authentic as possible.”
Student numbers for the ILC have remained steady over the past few years.
“The enrollments for the last couple of years in terms of numbers have remained static sitting at roughly 80 to 85 students,” Mr Burt said.
“It looks like we will have around the same number next year.”
Mr Burt said the organisation would continue to focus on integrating the students into the broader community.
“We are focusing on community integration and over the years we have done more of that,” he said.
“This is all thanks to organisations, including the councils, Lions and Rotary clubs, which have allowed us to continue developing this.”
The ILC is no ordinary educational environment.
“We have a relatively compact space and it does not look like a school,” Mr Burt said.
“We see benefit for our students because of this.
“There are some minor upgrades from time to time, otherwise it is business as usual.”
Mr Burt has been at the centre for six of its 11 years.
“There are day to day highlights and challenges around each individual achievement,” he said.
“We make sure everyone is travelling in the same direction.
“When considering longer term goals, it has been about making the centre more opportunistic.”
Mr Burt would like to see the centre continually develop the younger generation’s educational mindset.
“We are grabbing things as they appear which are of benefit to young people in the community,” he said.
“It is about getting our name out there so students that are seen at the ILC are positive rather than negative.
“These young people are very much employable.”
Some students arrive at the centre only completing their primary school education.
“There is a lot of variability involved regarding when and how long students take to graduate,” Mr Burt said.
“There is only an age limit involved, but I would always encourage students to stay in a regular school environment.
“However, the flexibility of our programs allows us to take in anyone no matter where they are on their educational path.”
