Best On Day

At risk kids lose on Labour's policies

At risk teens on the Independant Youth Benefit (IYB), will have to be either in school or on training to continue to get the benefit under Labour's new policy.

And these kids will probably be slotted into usesless training schemes that dont provide sustainable employment merely to continue their entitlement. It is understood that around 1000 are on the IYB, many of whom are not in training or at school. Even more 16-17 year olds are on the invalids benefit - and that is probably, in some instances, because they live with their parents and cant get the IYB.

The UK has a similar school leaving age policy which has been criticised in a recent policy report

This is a badly conceived policy. It is likely to further disadvantage [marginalised young people]. Young people who are enrolled in courses they who not wish to attend will be unmotivated to learn. The greatest losers are likely to be the most marginal and disadvantaged

In other words, Helen Clark’s target group.This group prediminately have TOPs courses available to them - second chance low level training for school dropouts and those with low or no qualifications, whith an educational component of unit standards.

Yet recent reports from the Ministry of Education reveal that fewer than one in three students who go to TOP courses complete even one basic unit standard - even at level one. That rate will possible be higher for Maori as 42 percent of TOP trainees are Maori. TOP programmes that focus on teens will not be able to fill their programmes due to teens preferring to go to higher quality polytechs - when they are free of charge under National.

Under Labour, it will be interesting to see how many get a level three education if the aim of the extended education is to reduce the number of teens who achieve less than level three. Under National, it would be interesting to see how Polytech pass rates (and truancy rates) are affected by troubled teen freeloaders - many of whom don't live with their parents - who are going to polytechs either to ensure thay get benefits or because they have to go to some sort of training to avoid going to secondary school.