How much school?

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 301, 25 August 1989, Page 20

How much school?

Thomas is ten years old. By the year 2000 he will be 21. However, Thomas can probably tell you now how long he is likely to be at secondary school.

He can probably also tell you now whether or not he is likely to go on to university or polytechnic. Or try for an apprenticeship or simply leave school at fifteen. Research has shown that children as young as ten or eleven already

have at least a vague idea of "how much" education they will stay for. Joanna is Thomas' fifteen year old sister. She is now deciding what her options are. She wants to do an Industrial Design course at her local polytech-

nic, but the course is very popular and she knows it will be tough to get into it. Last year only 30 of the 180 applicants were accepted. That's the current situation for many young New Zealanders. By the time Thomas is fifteen he could face an even more demanding situation than his sister now faces. Turn page 21

From page 20 Quite simply, Thomas, at age twenty-one, won't have a job unless he has a skill. Nor is it likely that Joanna, at age fifteen, will get a job without a skill. But where do people like Joanna get a skill - and who pays for it? At present there is a range of options in education open to young people, but many of the courses have limits on the number of students accepted. The question of increasing the number of education and training places available to school leavers has concerned the government for some time. The reform of tertiary

education to increase options and flexibility within the current system is underway. Polytechnics and universities are also going to receive more funding under the new system. The government is very aware of the need to increase New Zealand's skills base and to ensure that all young people have the chance to have further education and training after leaving school. A buzz-word in the employment and training sector is "skillslag". New Zealand suffers from a shortage of skilled labour. We don't train enough of our young people and worse, we have an his-

toric and chronic problem of losing many of our skilled workers overseas. The "skills-lag is double-edged for young people. Without training of some sort beyond school it is difficult to find work and technological changes mean that the types of jobs available are changing. Unskilled or manual work is simply becoming more difficult to find. A recent study by the New Zealand Planning Council called, aptly enough, "Tomorrow's Skills" shows very clearly that not only have the total number of jobs in the unskilled area declined, but also

that this trend of fewer and fewer manual jobs being available will continue in the future. These trends -are not unique to New Zealand, but the problem is made worse here because of the relatively low number of school leavers going on to gain skills through training and education. The government's Learning for Life reforms in the tertiary education area are aimed at increasing young people's access to education and training beyond school. Already the funding for tertiary education has been increased markedly over the past five years.