Skill training for school leavers with no qualifications - article

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Key Statistics - article, November 2001, p9
 

Summarises some of the findings on a report which draws together information from the Ministry of Education, the Department of Work and Income and Skill New Zealand to comment on options for unqualified school leavers.
 

Skill training for school leavers with no qualifications¹

Although the proportion of young people leaving school with no qualifications has recently received media attention, there has been less coverage given to subsequent learning options, such as the training programmes provided by Skill New Zealand.

A recent Statistics New Zealand report, School Leavers with No Qualifications, drew together available administrative data from the Ministry of Education, the Department of Work and Income, and Skill New Zealand² to provide an overview of some of the initial pathways for these young people. This article summarises some of the findings presented in the report.
 

School leavers with no qualifications, 1991–2000 

In the decade from 1991 to 2000, approximately 9,000 young people left high schools each year with no formal school qualifications.³ As a percentage of the total number of school leavers each year, students leaving without any qualifications increased slightly between 1991 and 2000.
 

As Figure 1 shows, in 1991 the almost 8,400 students who left school with no qualifications constituted 16 percent of all school leavers. By 2000, the number of school leavers without qualifications was close to 10,300, or 19 percent of all young people leaving school that year.
 

Although the national school leaving age was raised to 16 years in 1993, the number of exemptions granted to students to leave school before reaching 16 years of age has steadily risen from 300 in 1993 to 3200 in 2000. As a percentage of school leavers with no qualifications, students under 16 years who were granted an exemption formed 3 percent in 1993, 21 percent in 1996, and 32 percent by 2000.
 

There is a lack of information concerning the subsequent experiences of these young people who leave school with no qualifications, as many may not enrol for any training or tertiary education, qualify for welfare, or register as unemployed. However, each year since 1993, at least 5,000 school leavers aged 16 have enrolled for training with a Skill New Zealand programme. As this involves a reasonable proportion of school leavers with no qualifications annually, Skill New Zealand data remains a prime source for gaining an understanding of some of the pathways these young people take.
 

Skill New Zealand training programmes 

Since 1993, over 220,000 young people aged 16 to 24 years have enrolled in Skill New Zealand programmes. Of these, 75 percent were in the 16 to 19 age group. Skill New Zealand is a Crown agency that purchases subsidised training programmes targeted at people under-represented in the labour market. These people include recent school leavers and unemployed people with no or low school qualifications.
 

The vast majority of trainees in the 16 to 24 age group (between 93 and 97 percent) have no more than two School Certificate passes. Males slightly outnumber females, with male trainees consistently forming between 53 and 55 percent of young participants since 1993.
 

Over 2,500 training courses are offered by more than 500 providers nationwide. These programmes provide eligible learners with the opportunity to gain nationally-recognised qualifications and skills, as well as work experience, which will assist them in progressing into further training or employment. The training is organised under three main programmes:
 

Training Opportunities – targeted at clients of the Department of Work and Income⁴ aged 18 years or older, with a significant history of unemployment and low qualifications

• Youth Training – aimed at school leavers under 18 years of age with low qualifications
• Skill Enhancement – offers vocational training to young Māori and Pacific peoples.

Training Opportunities and Youth Training learners may continue training until they have accumulated 240 credits on the National Qualifications Framework.
 

Trends in participation, 1993–2000

The annual number of participants aged between 16 and 24 years in Skill New Zealand programmes has fallen between 1993 and 2000, as illustrated by Figure 2.
 

In 1993, the peak year, 32,000 young people commenced training. The number of trainees gradually declined to 29,000 by 1997, and subsequently decreased sharply through 1998 and 1999, to 21,000 by the year 2000.
 

The decline since 1997 can be attributed to several factors including changes to benefit access for young people, a 13 percent reduction in government funding in 1999, longer training programmes and increased training costs.
 

From 1993, young people benefited from an improvement in the labour market. The unemployment rate in the 1990s for young people aged 15 to 19 years peaked at 24 percent in 1993, before falling and fluctuating between 17 and 20 percent in 1999 and 2000.
 

Similarly, the unemployment rate for young people aged 20 to 24 years decreased from a high of 19 percent in 1993 to approximately 12 percent during 2000.
 

The proportion of Māori enrolling in training programmes has increased annually since 1993. As Figure 3 shows, Māori have formed the largest ethnic group enrolled in training programmes since 1994. In 1993, 43 percent of all participants were Māori, and this had increased to 48 percent by 2000. Participation by Pacific people remained around 12 percent throughout the period. The proportion of participants from other ethnic groups declined proportionally from 45 percent in 1993 to 40 percent in 2000.
 

Since 1993, the number of 16 year olds enrolled in Skill New Zealand programmes has fluctuated. Figure 4 shows that in 1993, 6,700 16-year-old school leavers with no qualifications participated in Training Opportunities. By 1995, this had risen to 7,600, remaining at a similar level until 1998 when there were 4,900 16 year olds participating in training.
 

At the beginning of 1999, Training Opportunities split into two new programmes: Youth Training and Training Opportunities. Since Youth Training began in 1999, around 5,500 16 year olds have participated in the programme each year. Not all of these young people would have entered the programme for the first time while aged 16. An increasing number of learners leave school earlier and may have been involved in training before turning 16.
 

As the number of students leaving school with no qualifications was generally between 9,000 and 10,000 between 1993 and 2000, Skill New Zealand training programmes would appear to have involved a reasonable proportion of school leavers without qualifications. The fully subsidised nature of the programmes and the fact that school leavers are not eligible for an unemployment benefit until they reach 18 years, further enhance their attraction.

Outcomes 

Skill New Zealand measures the outcomes of all learners who leave their programmes. Learners continuing their training within the same programme, such as Youth Training, are excluded from the recorded results. Information concerning the nature or permanence of subsequent employment is not collected.
 

In recent years, Skill New Zealand has recorded an increase in the proportion of learners aged 16 to 24 years who have progressed into further training or employment two months after leaving training. Of learners in this age group who left Training Opportunities in 1993, 35 percent found employment, either full-time or part-time, and an additional 8 percent embarked on further training.
 

Of learners who left Training Opportunities in 2000, 51 percent gained employment and 11 percent progressed to further training outside the programme. In the same year, 43 percent of young people leaving Youth Training found employment, while another 22 percent went on to train with institutions such as polytechnics, universities and private training establishments.
 

Summary 

Skill New Zealand-funded programmes provide important training and learning environments for young people with no qualifications, particularly for recent school leavers aged 16 and 15 years old. However, there is room for further research into the subsequent labour market experiences of these young people. The extent to which a lack of school qualifications impedes the progress of young people in their transition from school to work must be of major concern to a nation focusing on developing an inclusive, innovative economy.
 

Note: This article presents some summary results from School Leavers with No Qualifications, the second in a series of web-based analytical reports to be produced during the next three years. The first report was Crime in New Zealand. These reports are now available on the Statistics New Zealand website, www.stats.govt.nz.
 

Acknowledgement 

Statistics New Zealand would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Skill New Zealand and the Ministry of Education.

Footnotes

¹ This article was prepared by Gary Blick of the Social Statistics Division of Statistics New Zealand.

² Skill New Zealand/Pukenga Aotearoa was originally established as the Education and Training Support Agency. The change in identity occurred in September 1998.
³ Low school qualifications are recognised by the Ministry of Education and Skill New Zealand as being no more than two School Certificate passes. For convenience, this article refers to school leavers with no or low formal school qualifications as school leavers with no qualifications.
⁴ From 1 October 2001, the department was incorporated into the Ministry of Social Development.

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