A Western Sydney high school reportedly pays students if they perform well in the Higher School Certificate (HSC).
Auburn’s Al-Faisal College last year gave its Year 12 students a cheque for $500 for each subject they scored more than 90 per cent, according to The Daily Telegraph.
It’s believed the school paid out more than $100,000 to high achievers.
The cash for marks scheme could be behind the Islamic school’s jump up the HSC league table, soaring from a rank of 54th in New South Wales in 2017 to 23rd just last year.
“This year there were 212 distinguished achievers and as a result each student was presented with a cheque of $500 for every subject where they scored an ATAR of 90 or above,” the school’s website says.
Al-Faisal College managing director Mr Shafiq Abdullah Khan said the program teaches students values of diligence and hard work.
“This incentive program is supported by parents and the school community,” he said.
“The aim is to show students the importance of diligence and hard work in achieving goals in life.”
Al-Faisal College (AFC) is a non-government, Islamic, combined primary and secondary school, operated by Al-Faisal College Ltd, with campuses in Auburn and Campbelltown.
The college was established in 1998 at the Auburn campus and expanded to the Campbelltown campus in 2013.
The Auburn campus opened on 27 April 1998 with 200 students from Kindergarten to Year 2. In 2007 the first cohort of Year 12 students, completing the Higher School Certificate graduate from the college. Between 2008 and 2013 the school nearly doubled in size, from approximately 860 students in 2008 to 1660 students in 2013.
Al-Faisal College took over Iqra Grammar College at Minto, Campbelltown in 2013 with 440 students and 28 teaching staff bring the total number of enrollments to 1660.
In July 2013, Al-Faisal College bought a 4 hectares (9.9 acres) property in Minto where it planned to open a campus for 600-1500 students by 28 April 2014.
In August 2013 the college’s deputy principal for Years 7 to 12, Peter Rompies, said that school will likely not be able to cater for the 200 to 300 students on the “huge waiting lists” for Kindergarten 2014 applications.
Al-Faisal College teaches according to the NSW Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards mandated syllabuses. Students from Kindergarten to Year 12 study Arabic as a Language Other Than English and study the Quran and complete Islamic studies.
Students completing the Higher School Certificate at the college study Arabic and Islamic Studies, along with the compulsory subject English, and other subjects of their choosing.
The college also offers a number of sporting and extracurricular activities including with other schools and local organisations.
Courtesy of 7news