Independent Students and Economic Disadvantage as a barrier to participation in education

By Renee Mills
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Back to new Transitions - Re-Engagement Edition

Introduction

Community Connections is a community organisation working with young people at risk of early home and/or school leaving. The agency has been engaging with Independent Students in local schools across Brisbane North since 2000, supporting them to either reengage or maintain engagement in education, by providing individual support, facilitating peer support groups, providing advocacy and lobbying, and undertaking project work that has arisen from these groups. This work resulted from the observation that many young people disengage from education once they become independent, due to the lack of support to address social, emotional, economic and practical issues. This paper will outline the collaboration between Community Connections, independent students and a group of young women reengaging in education to both address discrimination based on economic disadvantage and utilise a Microfinance model as a means to develop skills that financially support (re) engagement in education.

Initial Project

The Independent Students Project arose through collaboration between a group of independent students and Community Connections. Students produced a DVD to raise awareness of their experiences, and to assist other independent students with information and increase support. A clear message from the students experience was their daily struggle to support themselves financially, including meeting the costs of education and achieving their educational and personal goals due to economic disadvantage. Upon viewing this short film, independent students from another school also decided to meet together as a group to share their stories and find solutions for the financial challenges they faced. This second group identified that they each faced personal and emotional issues which interfered with education, but were currently accessing support to address these issues. Their primary concern was the challenge of living independently, meeting the costs of education and juggling the impact of financial needs with their commitment to complete their schooling. Consequently, the journey began to explore ways of addressing their economic disadvantage and Microfinance as a means to support young people's engagement in education.

The issues identified by students as impacting on their education were:

1. Family conflict.
2. Caring for a parent with mental health issues and their younger siblings (while living independently).
3. Mental health issues of the young person.
4. Lack of family support
5. Pregnancy and parenting
6. Health issues
7. Accessing affordable accommodation
8. Juggling managing a household (shopping, cooking cleaning) additional to their school commitments
9. ‘Living on little' and budgeting
10. Work commitments
11. Access to health services

The young people further identified that schooling requires a financial commitment which competes with their need to prioritize housing, utility bills, transport, and food. Educational costs included:

• text book hire scheme,
• uniforms,
• stationery,
• camps,
• excursions,
• transport,
• photocopying costs,
• home Internet access,
• art levies,
• Home Economics materials (food and material),
• Senior Jerseys and
• participation in school events, which they saw as important to be included in the school community (school dances, formals).

Students reported varying consequences, of not meeting these payments across school communities, but they included:

• the inability to participate in excursions they were advised to be ‘compulsory' for completing subjects,
• the with holding of end of year reports and student identification cards, and
• not being allowed to attend their Senior Formal.

One young person was held accountable for a previous debt for non payment of school fees which was incurred whilst they were living within their family unit. In reporting these consequences it became clear that students were being discriminated against due to economic hardship beyond their control.

Support Provided

On reflections of the young people's experience, it is important to note that each school community is just that, a community. Each school responds to the needs of independent students in different ways and many schools are open to negotiation when approached regarding these issues. However, identifying these differences in individual school practice necessitated a multilayered response to ensure the issue of discrimination of students due to economic disadvantage was addressed across the Education System. Therefore, Community Connections engaged Queensland Youth Housing Coalition to lobby Education Queensland to resolve policies issues regarding the support and assessment of independent students.

As a result of this system advocacy, Education Queensland policy now states:

"Students who are at risk of disengaging from learning (e.g. independent students) and students of parents experiencing financial hardship, should not be disadvantaged through the imposition of school fees. Schools are to take this into consideration when developing their policies on fee waivers.

Students are not to be disadvantaged through not providing student ID cards as this restricts access to learning i.e. subsidised transport and the school library (depending on school practices).

Actions to collect school fees that have not been paid should not be seen as punishment or as a behaviour management tool." (http://education.qld.gov.au/strategic/eppr/finance/fnmpr019/)

Alongside this work to encourage systemic change, Community Connections also offered support to individual independent students, advocating for their rights to access education, negotiating agreements with their school communities and working to address other social and emotional barriers to their participation in education What's more, peer support offered in the group setting provided an opportunity for students to link with each other, easily access referral and information from a youth and family worker and to raise awareness within the school community of their experiences.

The Micro Savings Model

Extending the community development process used by Community Connections in this project, the development of the Micro Savings model, recognizes that education comes with a cost independent students can not always afford. The Micro Savings Model provides an avenue and support for students to develop financial literacy skills required to sustain engagement in education.

The objectives of the Micro Savings Project are as follows:

1. To address the economic disadvantage experienced by independent students;
2. To provide an opportunity for independent students to develop savings and budgeting skills; and
3. To support independent students who are experiencing economic disadvantage to remain engaged in education.

Resources Required

Outcomes

Six young people completing their Senior year of schooling, were involved in the formation of the group and the development of the model. During this stage, two students had their enrolment cancelled due to a ‘lack of participation' (poor attendance and/or poor academic performance). Health issues, caring responsibilities, family conflict and homelessness contributed to difficulties in attendance and participation. These students worked with Community Connections to advocate for their right to stay in school, to address the issues impacting on their ability to reengage in education and to seek alternative education options. One student completed Senior schooling at another high school and the other chose to move into a full time traineeship. As a result of this, and the needs of students attending other local schools, Community Connections explored the possibility of bringing students together from across North Brisbane to participate in the Micro Savings project . Through these discussions it became clear that holding the group during school hours (morning tea) and on the school grounds was essential to the success of the group. Should the group have been held outside of school, students said they would not be able to participate given their competing commitments of work, home, caring and school responsibilities.

Four young people participated in the savings phase and all of these students completed their Senior phase of learning. Of the four students, three met and saved regularly, reaching the maximum matched amount of $250. The fourth student attended sporadically and saved $160. The students used their savings, and the amount matched by Community Connections for Text Book Hire Scheme, uniforms, excursions, Home Economic costs, formal tickets, TAFE fees, QTAC application fees and stationery.

Students feedback regarding the project is as follows:

• All participants commented that the Micro Savings Project was ‘fantastic' as it helped them to save money. One young person commented that the matching scheme ‘is free money - you'd be stupid not to do it!'
• One student stated that ‘it was good to save because otherwise it gets sucked up by other living expenses'. The other members of the group agreed.
• Students said they enjoyed coming together and sharing food.
• Two students said they were able to attend their formal because of their participation in Micro Savings, as they were able to pay off fees, and buy formal tickets and clothing. (Attendance was prohibited by the school if any money was owing to the school).
• One young man commented he felt it was good to know he could come to the meeting and there would be food, because sometimes he wouldn't have food at home. He said eating lunch helped him to get through the day.
• The young person who attended less group meetings said that it was due to school commitments; morning tea and lunch times were often taken up with tracking down teachers and finishing off school work. He said he enjoyed coming to the group because he felt comfortable with the other students and workers. He also stated that it was good to know the group was there - because it made it easier to talk to a worker about ‘stuff'.
• The student that saved less and more erratically, stated it was due to both his inability to come to all group meetings and because he was couch surfing his costs would change significantly each fortnight. Therefore, he could not follow a regular budget, yet saved when possible.
• All students said that the group needed to start at the beginning of the year to give them enough time to save money to pay for their accounts as early as possible. This is particularly relevant for students completing their senior year, as students in lower grades could use savings from the previous year to cover Term One school fees.
• Two students used their savings and matched funds (reimbursed for school expenses) to start a small business to support them in their following year at university.
• One student said that through coming to the group he was able to find out information he otherwise would not have known about. He gave the example of QSTEP - which enables economically disadvantaged young people support to gain entrance to university.
• Another student said that though he did not attend the group regularly, he still found out information through other members that passed it on. He was able to ‘keep in the loop' even if he didn't come to meetings.
• All students said they thought it was worthwhile participating in the group and felt it should continue so other students could benefit.

Since this initial trial, a second group involving four independent students resulted in similar positive feedback.

Community Connections concludes that using the Micro Savings Model with independent students, responds to the economic needs of these young people by proving financial support through matching savings up to $250 as well as enabling them to develop financial literacy (savings, budgeting and skills to live on small incomes). The Micro Savings Model is an incentive for students to come together as a group, which further enables them to engage in peer support and to connect with a youth and family worker to access the information, referral, advocacy and any support they may require to remain in education.

Supporting Reengagement in Education through Micro Savings

During the process of developing this model in one school community, a number of independent young women supported by Community Connections became disengaged from education. The reasons for this were varied but included experiencing mental health issues, accommodation difficulties, family conflict, pregnancy and parenting, and financial reasons. Community Connections supported these young women to come together and the young women have now formed a ‘Coffee Club'. This began as an opportunity to reduce social isolation and develop friendships and support networks. In the formation of this group, the young women shared their goals and dreams and identified financial resources as a major hurdle in achieving these.

The Coffee Club is now developing their own Micro Savings group, based on the Independent Students ‘matching' model. Because of the different needs of this group, their saved and the matched funds will be linked to individual savings goals, rather than educational costs. This includes goals such as setting up a household with furniture and white goods. Through the process of defining their own purpose and ‘rules' of the group, the participants are gaining ownership of the process, the model and the meetings, which is increasing motivation and participation. Interestingly, while the needs and goals of the group are diverse, many participants share the goal of reengaging in education, or establishing safe and stable accommodation to enable them to pursue their goals of employment and/or education. Time will tell as to the success of the Micro Savings Project and peer support groups in enabling the independent young women to reengage in education and/or training.

Conclusion

The financial cost of education must be acknowledged and mechanisms put in place to ensure that young people who are economically disadvantaged are given access to education, support to remain in education, and are not discriminated against because of their situation. Peer support groups, access to individual support and referral through community agencies and micro savings are important and powerful in supporting students to address social, emotional and economic barriers, to enable participation in education. However, the responsibility to ensure education can be accessed by all should not simply lie with student initiatives such as the micro savings groups. It is largely the responsibility of Education Queensland to ensure policies are changed to safeguard against discrimination on the grounds of economic hardship as well as promote their responsibility to monitor individual school procedures and practice to ensure high-level policy intent is implemented. As earlier stated, each school is a unique community and experience shows how these communities interpret policies differently through their procedures and young people experineces. Individual interpretation results in varied practices across schools and continued discrimination against independent young people. Consequently, Education Queensland also has a responsibility to educators and school staff to support the implementation of new policy and ensure they are utilised in the spirit intended.

Community agencies must continue to work in partnership with school communities and young people to ensure ongoing advocacy and support to ensure access to education. Rather than exploring how to re-engage the disengaged, our common goal must be to create informed, understanding and inclusive education communities that prevent young people from disengaging as a consequence of their social, emotional and economic experiences.

About the Author

Renee Mills has worked as a Youth and Family worker with Community Connections for two and a half years within both the Youth Support Coordinator and Reconnect programs. Prior to this she worked in housing, mental health, disability and with refugee communities. Particular interests are community development, and engaging young people and school communities in these processes to enact sustainable change.

Community Connections is a community agency working with young people who are at risk of early school and/or young people who are at risk of homelessness or have recently left home. Community Connections also works with families experiencing conflict.

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