Transcript DEECD PowerPoint Presentation template (2009)

Youth Transitions reforms
VISTA/VALA Annual Conference 2010
Chris Ingham
Deputy Director
Interdepartmental Policy Unit -Youth Transitions
Pathways
25 August 2010
• It’s good to be back.
• I am a graduate of the “He Cooks” short course.
This presentation covers
•
Discussion about reform options in youth transitions
•
Outcomes/summary from a formal consultation process.
•
Discussion – your thoughts….and I really want this to be
conversational, because I’m conscious of…
The project
Purpose:
• develop a cross-sectoral policy framework to improve student pathways
for 15 to 24 year-olds to increase the number of young people achieving
strong career paths by age 24.
• The work of the IPU also aims to achieve the associated policy goals of
increasing the proportion of young people:
– completing year 12 or equivalent, and
– continuing on to higher levels of education and training.
Consultation process – the five areas:
•
Identifies five areas for improvement:
i. strengthening literacy and numeracy in the post-compulsory
years
ii. support for young people in making informed education and
training choices
iii. arrangements that support and encourage more people to
complete Year 12 or equivalent qualifications
iv. systems that assist students to move effectively between
courses, institutions and sectors, and
v. opportunities for young people to re-engage with education
and training
Or, to put it more critically: five weaknesses…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
System doesn’t sufficiently support young people with literacy and
numeracy deficits. This prevents many young people from
achieving a Year 12 or equivalent qualification and/or succeeding
in the labour market.
Our system does not provide students with enough support in
making education and training choices.
Too many young people leave school and/or the VET sector
without completing a qualification. Existing provision
arrangements and accountability frameworks do not address this
effectively.
Students cannot always move effectively between courses,
institutions and sectors.
Our system does not provide strong enough support for young
people who disengage with education and training.
Reform areas resonated
Literacy and Numeracy
AIG:
“literacy and numeracy levels are an issue for all levels in the workplace, including
new entrants such as apprentices, trainees and school leavers”.
Parents Victoria:
“Victorian families have serious concerns about literacy and
numeracy skills with a view to future educational and career
pathways for their sons and daughters”.
Completion
VTA: “VTA is already receiving anecdotal information that…[students are] counselled not
to
complete a qualification so as to leave government funded options open in the
future”
Swinburne: “The introduction of a ‘navigator’ role into the VET sector would assist young
people to complete initial qualifications. This would be a person who young people
meet at the start of the qualification and who follows the young person all the way
through”
Articulation (efficient movement between courses, institutions and sectors)
VASSP: “Is the ENTER, as the main method of selection into tertiary education, an efficient
system to get the right student into the right course? The answer for many students
is a resounding no”.
Reactions to some key proposals
• introduction of literacy and numeracy standards into Victoria’s senior
secondary certificates had a mixed response, ranging from strong support
to requests for clarification, to opposition.
– Strong support for the proposal that those identified as needing support through
Year 9 NAPLAN testing are guaranteed that support, with appropriate resourcing.
• supported the proposition that Victoria should build a cross-sectoral
(school and VET) youth transitions transparency and accountability
framework
• Stakeholders indicated a strong level of support for a dialogue to broaden
ENTER-based selection processes. The consultation process also
indicated that there is considerable movement on the ground to expand
school-university partnerships and other arrangements to improve
articulation.