7. ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tāmaki) Link to this
to the Minister for Tertiary Education
What recent announcements have been made about the Youth Guarantee?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Tertiary Education) Link to this
The Government announced on Sunday that it would be jump-starting the first stage of the Youth Guarantee. Next year we will fund 2,000 fee-free places for 16 and 17-year-olds at polytechs, private training establishments, and wānanga. The Government has always believed that some students will be more motivated to succeed in non-school settings, and we are very proud of the fact that we are able to jump-start the Youth Guarantee so that by the start of next year 2,000 students will be able to take advantage of it.
How will the Government decide which providers and courses will be part of the initial roll-out of the Youth Guarantee?
The providers involved next year will be those in areas with high youth unemployment rates that have a demonstrated track record of delivering programmes at levels 1 to 3 to young people. The courses offered will be vocationally focused courses at levels 1 to 3, with literacy and numeracy embedded in the course content. Examples include certificates in mechanical maintenance, computing, agriculture and forestry skills—the list goes on and on.
Iain Lees-Galloway Link to this
What advice does the Minister have for the 6,000 students who are not covered by the extra places in polytechs provided by the Youth Guarantee scheme, and how can those 6,000 students be expected to get into training or education when the Minister refuses to make room for them to learn?
I would say to the member that those students do not exist, so it is very hard to give them advice. Those students are hypothetical; they are based on predictions that various institutions have made. Each institution that makes those predictions uses a different basis. In the past, those predictions have not tended to be very reliable.
I have received a report that states that the institutes of technology and the polytechs are right behind the Youth Guarantee. I have also received reports that private training establishments and wānanga are busy putting together applications to be part of the 2010 jump-start. I am really heartened by the response from the wider education sector. It seems that everyone except the Labour Party thinks the scheme is a good idea. I look forward to all those training organisations providing 2,000 high-quality tertiary education opportunities for 16 and 17-year-olds next year.