Education Minister Chris Carter announced today that Alternative Education (AE) providers will now be able to get free access to the Correspondence School for their students.

Chris Carter said that AE students will be able to participate as dual enrolled students with the Correspondence School from Term 3 this year without any cost to their AE provider.

�Free access will ensure that more Alternative Education students have high quality learning opportunities through the National Qualifications Framework,� said Chris Carter.

The move is an initial response to the on-going review of Alternative Education, while longer term arrangements are developed alongside the Schools Plus initiative.

The Ministry of Education is currently reviewing AE to better understand how existing provisions meet students� needs. The review currently underway was initially set down for report back in June 2008 but this will now be extended until March 2009. The Ministry of Education has decided to renew all existing AE contracts for a further year until the review is completed.

�An estimated 3500 students take part in Alternative Education each year and I want the best outcome for them wherever they are in the schooling system,� said Chris Carter.