Young people and the "Earn or Learn" policy

The Governments new "earn or learn" policy is masking youth unemployment says the Welfare Rights Centre in a Sydney Morning Herald article "Statistics hiding 50,000 jobless.

A recent report from the Foundation for Young Australians "How 2009 How Young People are Faring (HYPAF) report" shows that the proportion of teenagers not learning or earning full-time has jumped from 13.4% a year ago to 16.4%, the highest level since the recession of the early 1990s. This raises questions about how well the education system engaged and retained students. Foundation chief executive officer Adam Smith says "This (data) takes us into whole new territory about how schools need to change to make sure the education system matches the needs of the workforce,"