Page 1965 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 May 2009
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As Ms Burch indicated, on 30 April COAG agreed to the jobs, training and youth transitions initiative which aims for greater youth engagement in education and training. The compact with young Australians aims to ensure every young person can access education and training.
COAG’s national youth participation requirement will make participation in education, training or employment compulsory for all young people until the age of 17. COAG has agreed to bring forward its goal of having 90 per cent of young people achieve a year 12 or equivalent qualification from 2020 to 2015. This work complements what ACT Labor has been working on for some time.
In August last year I released the pathways to the future consultation paper on increasing young people’s engagement in education, training and work. The discussion paper provided the opportunity for young people, their parents, carers, teachers and the wider ACT community to share their opinions on issues such as the school leaving age and ways to ensure students are not left behind after year 10.
Submissions showed strong community support for the introduction of a compulsory participation age of 17, when young people would be required and supported to stay in education, training or work. ACT Labor is determined to deliver on this outcome and I have asked my department to ensure we are in a position to bring the appropriate legislation to the Assembly in the spring sittings this year.
But this is about more than just the school-leaving age. ACT Labor recognises that year 12 and university are not for all students, but we will work to ensure that every young Canberran is studying, training or working after year 10 in a way that suits their needs, their abilities and their plans for the future. Whilst COAG aims for a 90 per cent target for young people achieving year 12 or equivalent qualifications by 2015, we believe we can do better in the ACT. As Ms Burch has indicated, the ACT’s rate is currently 90 per cent but the government is committed to raising this to 95 per cent by 2013. We are well placed to do so because we started consulting on this policy with the community last year.
There are many reasons why the ACT will meet and better COAG’s goals. All of them go to ACT Labor’s commitment to education and training. The work of ensuring that students do not drop out after year 10 starts at the very beginning. That is why we have worked with federal Labor to ensure that students in our five early childhood centres are now receiving 15 hours of preschool per week and that is why we will extend this to all government preschools.
That is why we are determined that, by 2013, all preschoolers, including those in private preschools and childcare centres, will get 15 hours of pre-school education a week. To ensure young Canberrans can get the best start possible in life, we have established four new early childhood schools to provide quality education to children in their earliest years. That is why these schools also support the child’s family, providing easier access to government and community agencies including education, childcare, health, parenting and early intervention programs.
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