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Who will stand with the young?: the place of vocational education and training in post compulsory education

In the 1990s vocational education and training (VET) has been a significant policy challenge for the education industry. The growth of TAFE has been complemented by the rapid expansion of VET options available to secondary students as Australia attempts to deal with both workplace change and youth unemployment. VET policy and provision has generated a new set of debates in both the schools and the tertiary sector. Structured workplace learning and even some traineeships and apprenticeships have attained a formal place in the curriculum offerings of post compulsory schooling. Issues and recommendations put forward within these chapters raise questions about post compulsory schooling, particularly the balance between general and vocational curriculum and the relationship between educational institutions and the world of work as a basis for lifelong learning. The first section discusses the collapse of the youth market and the reality that there is a large number of disillusioned and marginalised young people, who cannot gain employment. The second section examines change since the rapid increase in school retention rates in the 1980s and the increasing need to revise the structure of post compulsory curriculum. Section three focuses on the disappointing results of policies in the VET sector designed to assist teenagers. The final section contains six recommendations including: strategies to change community perceptions of apprenticeships; change in VET national structures; Year 10: a time to leave school; affirmative action for teenagers; TAFE and school partnerships; and the relationship between post-compulsory education and secondary schools.

In the 1990s vocational education and training (VET) has been a significant policy challenge for the education industry. The ...  Show Full Abstract  

Authors: Peoples, Kevin
Date: 1998
Geographic subjects: Oceania; Australia
Resource type: Report
Subjects: Youth; Lifelong learning; Vocational education and training;

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