The problem of students dropping out of secondary education and training

By John Crozier
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Introduction

It is acknowledged that there are a large number of 15 to 17 year olds in Australia who are not in education, training or full-time employment. These are young people who are sometimes referred to as having ‘fallen through the cracks' of our education system.

This paper will conclude by briefly discussing research done on some possible starting points, some of which are already working towards a solution to reduce the numbers of students dropping out.

Is it a significant problem?

Historical Considerations

Staying on at school has always been an issue in Australia. In 1948 of 100 students entering public secondary school in NSW, 20 left by end second year, 50 had left by end third year, 87 had left by end fourth year and 90 had left by end of fifth year (TEESE et al 2004 p3). During the 1960's to 1980's it came to be part of the education agenda in Australia to increase retention rates at secondary schools. Many social influences prompted this including economic recession years, which made it harder for all people, including 15 to 19 year-olds to enter the labour market.

In the 1980's there was a rapid increase in retention rates to year 12. The proportion of young people reaching the final year, year 12, of secondary school doubled (TEESE 2004). Secondary school retention rates have remained relatively static since 1995.

Figure 1 (click the image or here for larger view): Apparent retention rates (Year7/8 to Year 12), Australia: 1967-2002. Source: ABS, Schools Australia, successive years, Cat. No. 4221.0.

On average in Australia in the early 1990's approximately 75% of secondary students continued on to complete year 12. Retention rates peaked in 1992 and have dropped back slightly. States such as N.S.W. are below the national average whilst Queensland is slightly above. The problem with retention rates peaking in the early 1990's and not increasing significantly since, is a resistance in the top twenty percent to continue in education and training.

This "resistance group" has always been there and become more evident since the increase in retention rate. As we will discuss subsequently, there are many common factors that contribute to young people at secondary age level not continuing in their education and training.

It is important to note that with the many options recently available to secondary school students including school-based apprenticeships and traineeships, that the retention rate is not increasing significantly.

In Australia (as in this paper) it is considered that a student leaving school before year 12 to enter a full-time traineeship, apprenticeship or vocational training at a TAFE or private provider college is still considered to be in education and training¹.

Recent Considerations

Presently it is concerning that the proportion of young Australians currently not in full-time work or study is nearing the level of the last recession (LONG 2005 ).

In October 2007, the reported number of 15 to 24 year olds not engaged full time in either learning or work was 526,000 (LABOR PARTY 2007). As a total figure of all 15 to 19 year olds in Australia in May 2005 14.9 percent or 208,400 of all that age group were not in full-time education or full-time employment (LONG 2005 p.viii). These statistics confirm the existence of the resistance group - those who drop out of education and training..

Also, the figures further highlight the problems associated with dropping out of education and training early. According to Long (2005, p. viii) 38,000 early school leavers (45 percent of Year 10 completers and 40 percent of Year 11 completers) in 2003 were not in study or full-time work in May 2004. In May 2001, among 15 to 24-year-olds who left school in the previous year without having completed Year 12, approximately 17.7 per cent were unemployed and not in study or a combination of part-time education and part-time employment (ABS, 2001). Across Australia this would mean a total number in the vicinity of 20,000 young people - having left school in the year 2000. That is just in one year.

Young people both in Australia who drop out early were four times more likely to have spent ten months or more of the time without work and not in further education or training than those who completed secondary education. .(LAMB, RUMBERGER 1998)

The effects of this in terms of skills shortages, social problems (e.g. incarceration of youths) and economic instability are not easy to demonstrate but are believed to be significant.

It is of significance that the proportion of female school leavers who are not fully engaged in work or study has increased and the gap between males and females widened. (LONG 2005 p12).

Considerations on Government funding policies

Is the reality in a school and school classroom really reflective of the many State and Federal written promises and pledges to solve the problem?

It could be considered in Australia, that education and training is not held in high esteem by a significant proportion of the population. In spite of what is said by Federal or State leaders, there is little evidence that the principle of education for all is held in high esteem. Recently our Prime Minister, John Howard was quoted to have said "We aim at nothing less than assisting all young Australians from age 13 to 19 to make a successful transition from school to an enduring career" ( HOWARD 2004). Yet our national spending on education as a percentage of our Gross Domestic Product has decreased over the period 1993 to 2000. This is shown graphically in Figure 2.

Figure 2 (click the image or here for a larger view): Australian Spending on Education Source: ABS National Accounts 5206.0.

Australia spends less on education than many other OECD nations - our direct public investment in education is just 4.3% of GDP, while the OECD country mean is 5%. (ACD 2001 p20).

An area allied to Education and Training is Research and Development (R&D). The Australian record in R&D expenditure is not good. "An average OECD nation invests around 1.97% of its GNP on Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD). Australia, however, invested just 1.49% of GDP in GERD in 1998-99" (ACD 2001 p18).

Still further of concern is our low investment in pre-school education. "Australia is now near the bottom of the OECD league table, with only 25 per cent of 3-year-olds and 70 per cent of 4-year-olds attending preschool". (ACD 2001 p10).

Demands on our teachers demonstrate further a national low view of Education and Training. "Australian teachers work more contact hours than those in almost every other OECD nation. At primary level, our teachers have more contact hours per year than any other of the 25 nations studied, while at secondary level, only the United States demands more contact hours from its teachers" (ACD 2001 p11). At their formative years, primary and secondary students need to have a teacher in their lives that can also be a mentor, guide and support. Too many Australian teachers are overloaded with large class sizes and excessive work expectations to be able to give of themselves to inspire our youth.

Reasons for students dropping out

SCHOOL RELATED²

Federal government policies

In education and training, the Federal policies, mainly concerning funding, set in train historically and supported in part by the State Governments, have been controversial to say the least. They have not worked if viewed from an equity vantage. They have further marginalised those at risk of leaving school early.

"School policies designed to protect the educational interests of the least educationally advantaged and the most vulnerable to failure, are being counteracted by the effects of policies designed to entrench the privileges and to broaden the educational options of those already best placed, by market forces, to complete successfully a full secondary education and to proceed to further study and employment" (CONNORS 2004).

Nearly one third of our students are educated in private schools. The problem with these schools as mentioned is that they can control student admission and exclusion and also fee structures (KEATING & LAMB 2004). This situation is a direct result of Federal and State Government policies.

Inadequate curriculum

Australian Secondary School curricula, have generally been focussed on supporting a transition to tertiary studies. Historically during the1970's when youth unemployment increased rapidly, schools were not prepared to adequately educate the larger number of students with other training pathways. The curriculum did not include training for skilled manual work. It was really ill-prepared for the collapse of youth employment in the mid-1970's (TEESE et al 2003).

"By the end of the 1990's Victoria had a Higher School Certificate in which vocational and general education could be counted towards university (though unequally weighted). In Queensland, from the mid 1990's apply for an equivalent ranking for university entrance on the basis of vocational subjects (again unequally weighted). But these two new senior certificates were scarcely distinguishable from the old certificates" (TEESE et al 2003 p41).

In an average Australian secondary school, about one third of year 12 students move to tertiary education. The curriculum is focussed on these students at the expense of the majority who have other pathways. The school curriculum has been described as having too narrow an academic focus, suited only to students who go on to university (BARTLET et al 2004).

A recent survey of 1,125 Year 9 and 10 students in Queensland secondary schools found that a lack of curriculum choice in the lower secondary school leads some students to lose heart and hence drop out, believing that high school will not offer them the job training they want in order to prepare them for work (PITMAN & HERSCHEL, 2002).

School type

The schooling system in Australia has Government schools, Catholic Schools and Independent schools, the latter two being referred to as private schools. Education in Government schools is "free", though there are still costs associated with textbooks, equipment and excursions etc. The costs of attending private schools can be anywhere from $2 000 and $15 000 per year per student.

Student drop out rates from Government schools are twice the drop out rate of catholic schools and over four times the rate in private schools ( RUMBERGER 1998 p6). Most if not all of the difference in drop out rates is related to the different demographic profiles of public and private schools - public schools tending to have much higher populations of students from disadvantaged (socially or economically) backgrounds.

Australian States

Drop-out rates still vary among the states. The State where you were born and live in Australia during your education years, will affect your staying on at school. If you were born and educated in NSW the likelihood that you will leave school at the end of Year 10 is one in ten, while in Victoria it is less than one in twenty (VICKERS & LAMB 2002).

TAFE-School relations

Typically, students at risk of leaving school, have had difficulty entering a TAFE program. There have been problems such as one labelled "double dipping". This is where a full-time secondary student (the secondary school being allocated funding for that student) finds it difficult to do a part-time funded course at a TAFE college (the TAFE college would not be able to get per head funding as it is going to the secondary school). Many young students who are disillusioned with their secondary education, cannot access even part-time "taster' courses at TAFE while still enrolled at a secondary school.

There has been a restriction of the role of TAFE institutes to service the needs of secondary students because of a perceived "wastage of funds" (ROBINSON & MISKO 2003). It is understood that this problem is being addressed so as not to discourage young people to be able to do a vocational course of study that will keep them engaged in education and training.

Teaching styles and assessment

Many of our schools still have an academic focus with teachers that were trained within an academic framework. The prime goal of most schools is university entrance preparation. Hence the way subjects are delivered and assessment is on an academic basis. Subjects such as, for example, Business Studies and Horticulture, both have a wide range of appeal from academic to vocational delivery and assessment. In general these are still taught in our schools in such a way that does not ignite the interest and involvement of many of our youth. Workplace experience and assessment can be utilised in the delivery of these two examples as well as many of the other subjects.

Family & Personal

Low SES

The financial status and social standing of the students family affects the continuance in education. Children from low Social-Economic Status (SES) backgrounds have a much lower rate of school completion than children from high SES families (LAMB et al 2000).

Efforts in recent years have really had little impact on decreasing drop-out rates of students from a low SES background.

"While improvements in social access to the curriculum have occurred in the last two decades of the twentieth century, the relative advantage of higher over lower socio-economic status groups has been maintained" ( TEESE et al 2003 p44).

Parent education

In Australia in the 1990's, if your parents' highest education was secondary or below you were three times more likely to leave school early (RUMBERGER 1998).

There is an effect that parents have on aspirations and achievement in education of their children. The attitudes to education, training and teachers in general is ingrained in a child from their early days. This is often a follow on from how parents fared at school.

Rural

Young people living in rural settings as opposed to urban situations are more likely to drop out of education at an earlier age (RUMBERGER 1998).

Australia is a country of large distances and a relatively small, coastal dwelling, population. The population is concentrated in urban centres There have been attempts to regionalise populations such as in Albury-Wodonga. Employment opportunities are still in the larger city centres, a situation common to most countries.

Gender

Young women that do not complete education have greater difficulty securing further training or employment.

Until 1975, women in Australia had shown a higher drop out rate than males from secondary education - nearly twice as much. Since around 1975 however females have shown a significantly higher retention to year 12 (LAMB et al 2004). Despite this, women have higher unemployment rates than men, irrespective of what stage they exit education and training (TEESE et al 2003).

Indigenous

Young Indigenous people are less likely than their non-indigenous peers to complete year 12 (NCVER 2003). Non-indigenous completion rates to year 12 are around 80 per cent, compared to 40 per cent for indigenous students (ABS 2003). A few years ago only 17 Indigenous Australians completed TER (Tertiary entrance at year 12) in Western Australia where 6% of that states' population are Indigenous (ROBSON 2003).

Ethnicity

If a young person has a language background other than English they are much more likely than those from English-speaking backgrounds to stay in full-time education after reaching the minimum age and complete Year 12. This may have to do with cultural aspirations and the value that is placed on education and training in the country of origin. For instance, students whose fathers were born in Vietnam have a Year 12 participation rate of 93 per cent, compared with an 80 per cent national average (LAMB et al 2004).

Other factors

There are many other factors shown to have an influence on young people dropping out of education and training. Factors such as finances, physical and mental health, disability, psychological, pregnancy, drug use, transport, family obligations, family breakdown, homelessness. These, though considered important, need to be the focus of further literature reviews.

Employment Related

Studies have shown that students who engage in employment during their education and training can be at risk of dropping out. For many young people, working part-time whilst at school is a positive experience and certainly to be encouraged. But for others it may indicate a high risk of dropping out. The reasons are complex but encompass those students who are from low SES families and whose view of school, for various reasons is negative (LONG & HAYDEN 2000).

Studies of students working longer than 20 hours per week have shown that they are less likely to continue in education and training (VICKERS et al 2003, ROBINSON 1999).

Over the past decade, surveys of Australian school leavers have indicated that most young people's motives for leaving are dominated either by the desire for work, or by a lack of interest in (and a dislike) of school (LAMB et al 2004).

A young person not achieving academically at school will often say "this is not for me" and leave to find work. Many schools however are are still geared to select and service the academic high achievers. This academic selection acts as a mechanism for allocating young people of working-class origins to working-class jobs. (TEESE 2003).

If young people who have not achieved well, struggle on to finish and obtain a senior certificate, they may be no better off in terms of their ability to find secure well paid work. This is different to the 1970's, when completing year 12 almost guaranteed a substantial career (TEESE et al 2003).

What needs to be done

If the family or circle of friends and contacts in community of a young person generally are not supportive of education and training, the inevitable result of this environmental conditioning can be to drop-out of education and training. One possible solution to this aspect of the problem is to support mentoring programs that ensure young people at risk have contact with an older person who believes in the value and worth of education and training.

Research needs to be more co-ordinated and thorough. For instance, the limitations of public data sources and research make it difficult to ascertain whether recent reforms in education (e.g. making vocational subjects more accessible through schools) are having a positive effect on school retention and educational attainment (LONG 2005). Also, research needs to go beyond simply finding that individuals from low SES backgrounds are more likely to quit school. The predictors of early leaving need to be better understood, so that educators can intervene at an early stage in children's school careers, keeping them on a positive path in their education and training (LAMB et al 2004 p6).

What is offered in schools needs to be re-thought and then re-introduced so that young people are not marginalised. Our current curriculum offering in schools in most cases still alienates many of our young people. Even if they do not leave early they still can be disengaged in their minds. The distinction between academic and vocational skills is not at all helpful and also irrelevant (BARTLETT et al 2004 p11).

The positive side - in conclusion

There is a problem in Australia with young people dropping out of their education and training. It is a very significant problem. At various levels many things need to be done.

It has been shown that if things are done, positive results will happen in setting our youths on a lifetime pathway of education and training.

For instance, lifting the school leaving age by one year could mean an extra $120,000 in a working persons life (LEIGH & RYAN 2005). An increase in education spending would, in the medium term, increase taxation revenue and reduce welfare expenditure that would more than offset the increased expenditure (LONG 2005 p.2).

Spending more on education and training and lifting the value of this would improve labour productivity and increase labour force participation. Australia's ranking of 25^th on a scale of what nations spend on education shows our lack of commitment to education.

Effective education and training programs and initiatives are operating in Australia to keep young people engaged and to re-engage the drop-outs. Some of these include school-based apprenticeships and traineeships, mentoring programs, alternative schools. The value of these need to be properly researched to show how school curricula can be radically more relevant than some of our outmoded courses. Rather than adding programs to a struggling structure, creating a more inclusive national eduction and training system that moves closer to being democratic and more truly equal is needed (TEESE et al 2003).

References

ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001. Education and Work, Australia. . No. 6227.0. ABS, Canberra

ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003 Schools Australia, successive years, Cat No. 4221.0

ACD Australian Council of Deans of Education 2001 New Learning:A Charter for Australian Education 1 876814 04 7

Black R.2006, Equity and Excellence: Where Do We Stand?An Education Foundation Fact Sheet

Long M Setting the pace 2005 Centre for the Economics of Education and Training Monash University - ACER

Connors L 2004 Public/private balance in health and education. 2004 National Library of Australia, Parkes, ACT

Bartlet K, Sawford R, Albanese A, Farmer P, Gambaro T, Johnson M, May M, Pearce C, Plibersek T, Sidebottom S. 2004 Learning to Work Report on the inquiry into vocational education in schools. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Training

Howard J. Quoted in Long M. How Young People are Faring:Key Indicators 2005 An update about the learning and work situation of young Australians Dusseldorp Skills Forum

Keating, J. & Lamb, S. 2004. Public Education and the Australian Community. A report to the Education Foundation. Melbourne: University of Melbourne

Labor Party, 2007. Mentors for our Students - Labor Party Election Policy Document.

Lamb S, Walstab A, Teese R, Vickers M, Rumberger R. 2004 Staying on at school: improving student retention in Australia MCEETYA, DoEA and Uni Melb

Lamb S, Rumberger R, 1998 The Early Employment and Further Education Experiences of High School Dropouts: A Comparative Study of the United States and AustraliaOECD Secretariat

Leigh A & Ryan C, 2005, Estimating returns to education: Three natural experiment techniques compared. Discussion paper 493, ANU Centre for Economic Policy Research.

Long M. 2005 How Young People are Faring:Key IndicatorsAn update about the learning and work situation of young Australians Dusseldorp Skills Forum.

Long M & Hayden M, 2000 Paying their way: A survey of Australian undergraduate student finances, .

NCVER 2003, Indigenous People in VET: a statistical review of progress.

Pitman J & Herschel P, 2002 The Senior Certificate: A New Deal. Queensland Department of Education, Brisbane.

Queensland Government.2002 Education and Training Reforms for the Future A White Paper

Robinson L, 1999, The effects of part-time work on school students, ACER.

Robinson C, Misko J, 2003 Extending learning opportunities.A study of co-operation between TAFE institutes, and schools and universities in Queensland. Queensland Department of Employment and Training.

Robson A.2003 Moving forward in a time of fear. Paper delivered at the Manning Clark House Day of Ideas

Rumberger R. 2001 Why Students Drop Out of School and What Can be Done

Spierings J, 2005 Young people at risk in the transition from education to work. Australian Social Trends, 4102, Australian Bureau of Statistics

Teese J Polesel 2003 Undemocratic Schooling - equity and quality in mass secondary education in Australia.

Vickers M. 2005 Report of the consultation on future directions for public education and training: One size doesn't fit all. Companion paper 2.

Vickers M, Lamb S & Hinkley J, 2003, Student workers in high school and beyond: The effects of part-time employment on participation in education, training and work.

About the Author

John Crozier has been involved in his thirty five year education career in developing and supporting initiatives that aim to increase education and training for a wider range of young people. He has developed innovative school-to-work transitions programs, tutored indigenous students, formed an award winning Industry-School partnership including thirty two schools on the Gold Coast, overseen a successful secondary school mentoring program, lectured on vocational education to secondary education students at Griffith University, loves to ride his Harley Davidson and is now completing a double masters in education focussing on guidance, counselling and mentoring.

Footnotes

1 Some countries and earlier statistics on school drop-outs in Australia have not considered this so. That is, drop-out figures include all students who leave school early, irrespective of whether they continue their education in an apprenticeship or vocational training course.

2 The sub-headings used here relate to those developed by various researchers especially Lamb (LAMB2003).

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