At 15, Taliah Blakeley should be sitting in a high school classroom. She had always imagined herself in her year 12 graduation gown. Instead, the teenager is at home, studying at TAFE, after leaving her school due to bullying.

The teenager is one of a growing number of NSW public school students dropping out before finishing their final year.

The issue of falling year 12 completion rates was highlighted by Federal Education Minister Jason Clare in a speech on Tuesday, where he flagged a radical shake-up of four major federal education agencies to create a new Teaching and Learning Commission.

“In independent and Catholic schools, completion rates are high and are either stable or going up,” Clare said. “It’s in our public schools where the real challenge is. And where a lot of the heavy

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