Education: Youth Guarantee not a guarantee

Students are failing to move on to Level 4 and above. Photo / Getty Images

A review of a government policy aimed at keeping teenagers in education has found while it's helping students get a high-school qualification, it has had no effect on their progression to higher study.

The Ministry of Education also found that teenagers out of work and education before entering the Youth Guarantee scheme would likely be back in the same situation within two years, and it did not have an effect on them receiving welfare.

Youth Guarantee was introduced in 2010 to ensure more teenagers achieved NCEA Level 2, and progressed into further education, training or employment. It offers either free places at tertiary institutions or the opportunity to undertake some tertiary study while remaining at high school - often in the form of trades academies.

The report found that while the programmes had increased the numbers of students attaining NCEA Level 2, it had not had any effect on increasing the proportion of those who progress to study at Level 4 or above.

In fact, young people who had participated in secondary-tertiary programmes and achieved NCEA Level 2 were less likely to progress to Level 4 and above, compared with other similar young people.

"There is no evidence that [programmes] are providing a more effective pathway to further education and training than other educational choices for a similar group of young people," the report said.

The report said there was no evidence from the study of either programme having any immediate effect on reducing the receipt of welfare benefits.

Dr Stuart Middleton, from MIT, said the report showed the policy was helping keep more young people in education.

"All of those students are those schools considered would not succeed. So the programmes are making a difference to keeping those at school who otherwise would not be there," he said.

Dr Middleton said he was hoping from next year more students would progress to higher education as funding would be expanded to Level 3. "It's a wonderful policy but it hasn't been implemented to have the full pathway.

"We need it to be seamless and at the moment there's a barrier between Level 1 and 2 and employment."

Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce said because the scheme was new it was hard to get meaningful data.

It was important to note that Youth Guarantee was working with the highest risk young people, and quite a number of them were already on a benefit when they were referred.

There was also quite a lot of variability in the performance of individual providers. Mr Joyce officials were continuing to do further work on the programme settings.

Programme's Aims

•Youth Guarantee is aimed at keeping more teenagers at school.
•Also aimed at 16 to 19-year-olds not in education, or at risk of dropping out.
•The programme includes both secondary-tertiary programmes, where students spend some time at school and some time at tertiary institutions. Often this is in the form of trades academies.
•It also provides fees-free places at tertiary institutes.
•This year the number of places offered in the fees-free scheme was increased to 9900. Trades academies have 4500.