policy & reform
campusreview.com.au
Missing the mark
Focusing on grades isn’t preparing
students for life after school.
By Loren Smith
A
Senate inquiry has heard that,
Gonski funding aside, schools
aren’t doing enough to prepare
students for life.
Victoria University’s Mitchell Institute
director Megan O’Connell told the inquiry
on the future of work that an intense
focus on grades has led to other skills,
like communication and collaboration,
being neglected.
“It’s always been there, but it has
intensified since the introduction of
NAPLAN,” she said. “Schools focus on
measurable outcomes because that’s how
they’re essentially ranked.”
This matters because vast youth
unemployment persists despite increasing
numbers of young people completing
Year 12 and obtaining university
qualifications, O’Connell contended at
the Melbourne hearing.
Youth unemployment has been in the
double digits for almost 10 years, compared
with the overall rate of 5.6 per cent.
In some areas, particularly regional ones,
the youth rate is above 20 per cent.
14
While university, which is grade-dependent,
can lead to greater employment prospects,
this is not universal.
“For example, around half of all science
graduates are only employed part-time
four months after graduating, and many
of these (40 per cent) are working in fields
unrelated to their degree,” O’Connell wrote
in an opinion piece that summarised her
inquiry speech.
Employers report that graduates lack
the requisite ‘soft skills’, she added. She
used this point to argue for greater VET
participation and incentives, mainly in
wage form, as VET qualifications lead to
more secure, in‑demand employment.
Eighty per cent of VET grads are employed,
post-training. This, she said, is because
connecting with industry is an integral
component of most VET courses.
Low-paid sectors like early childhood
education and aged and disability care
need more workers, she said.
Moreover, Mitchell Institute modelling
shows that soon, the workforce will require
half VET-qualified, half university-qualified
employees.
“In this light, it is particularly concerning
that recent Mitchell Institute modelling
warns that we could see a total demise
of our important VET sector if recent
enrolment trends continue,” she wrote.
“It is astonishing that our vocational
sector continues to be dragged through
the mud despite the vital role it has to play
in Australia’s future.”
The sector is indeed outraged about the
government’s recent budgetary actions. In
a speech to the NSW Business Chamber,
TAFE NSW managing director Jon Black
said high student loan costs were a major
factor in falling enrolments with the
provider. TAFE Directors Australia supported
Black’s comments.
But O’Connell remains hopeful
about children’s employment futures.
Solutions to increase school leavers’
employability include the teaching of
‘soft’ capabilities, which, although widely
Schools focus on measurable
outcomes because that’s how
they’re essentially ranked
prescribed, are often de-prioritised, as
well as better and earlier career planning
in schools.
Regarding the latter, this “should start in
primary school”, she advised. “Teachers can
learn about students’ passions and use that
to guide them in terms of subject choice
and later career motivation.” ■