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 Education, Training and Employment
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Overview of issues
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Resources relating to Education, Training and Employment
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Overview of issues
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Young people from refugee and newly arrived backgrounds experience a far greater risk of leaving the educational system earlier than is common for other young Victorians. This is due to a number of factors that inhibit their access to education, including:
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- Language barriers: many young people find it difficult to cope with language acquisition, a situation that is compounded by current curriculum requirements. There are also significant implications for students who may also be illiterate in their first language;
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- Lack of knowledge: many newly arrived young people and their families lack a working understanding of the Australian education system, the various curriculum and available pathways;
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- Study Space: many newly arrived young people lack a quiet space to study at home;
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- Disrupted schooling: many newly arrived young people have experienced disrupted schooling for varying lengths of time. In some cases, young people may have received no previous schooling at all, either in their country of birth or in the transitional country they lived in prior to settlement in Australia.
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Other education, training and employment issues that impact on refugee and migrant young people in Australia include:
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The education system
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The inflexibility of the current education system has a significant impact on refugee and migrant young people, limiting their successful participation. The age cut off for young people attending secondary school, the inability of young people to be able to move in and out of the school system, and limited ESL support in schools, all have an impact on the retention of newly arrived and refugee young people in the education system.
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Pathways between school and further education and training
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There are a lack of alternative pathways for young people between school and further training or employment. This is particularly so for newly arrived and refugee young people of post-compulsory school age who arrive in Australia with disrupted or no formal education. This is compounded by a lack of support for young people in securing and sustaining apprenticeships and employment opportunities.
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Employment and training issues
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- Refugee and newly arrived young people often have difficulty in securing apprenticeships or traineeships.
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- Newly arrived young people lack critical networks that can assist them in obtaining employment.
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- There are also inconsistencies between State and Federal policies in the area of apprenticeships.
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Welfare and wellbeing
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The impact of racism in schools has a detrimental affect on young people and their settlement experiences. All students have the right to feel safe and education facilities should be welcoming and discrimination free (indirect and direct).
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Working with families
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- Families often have little knowledge about the Australian education system and pathways options that are available. This can result in unrealistic expectations of their young people.
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- Families feel isolated from the education of their young people, detached from school processes and concerned about employment prospects.
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- Parents often fear for the safety of their young people.
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Resources relating to Education, Training and Employment
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 | RelatED: Learning to Live Together (UNESCO International Bureau of Education)
| RelatED - Learning to Live Together - is part of UNESCOs International Bureau of Education and is designed to be of use to educational practitioners, researchers and decision-makers through the provision of an information service to generate debate and build knowledge on how education may contribute to the development of peaceful, just and cohesive societies in the twenty-first century. Includes resources and databank.
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| Resource Gateway: For teachers working with refugee young people in Victoria (220Kb)
| The Gateway provides a simple way to access the growing body of research and education strategies for working with young refugee learners. It provides links to resources under four categories:
> eligibility and entitlements;
> refugee experiences;
> learning and teaching strategies;
> pathways and partnerships.
The Gateway is intended to serve as a reference point from which education providers can deepen their understanding of the issues facing refugee young people and start to develop specialised teaching and learning strategies.
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