Young people give Youth Guarantee the thumbs up

Young people give Youth Guarantee the thumbs up, but rate longer-term outcomes over quals

Young people involved in Youth Guarantee rate the programme highly according to a two-year project exploring their perceptions and experiences of the government-funded initiative.

However, findings from the Youth Guarantee Pathways and Profiles project - undertaken by Community Colleges of New Zealand and The Collaborative Trust, with funding from Ako Aotearoa (the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence) - highlight the need for future policy to be better aligned with the transition process for this vulnerable learner group. Visit the Ako Aotearoa website to download the four-page summary and full report free.

The project identified that to gain lasting positive impact for youth involved in these transition programmes, government policy should place greater emphasis on the value of holistic and ongoing support. Central to this is the gaining of skills and longer-term positive outcomes such as identity and control, rather than immediate outputs such as qualifications.

Project co-lead Doug Reid sees the work as an enormous opportunity for educators and policy makers to work more closely together to create positive change.

“Benefits of this project for educators is one of encouragement, that their work with their learners can have a positive and lasting impact on their lives, especially where the focus is on the themes.

“For policymakers the signal is to see the programme as a broad developmental opportunity for young people, which can be integrated with similar programmes operated by other agencies.” He added.

More than 500 young people and staff contributed to the work (including Māori, Pasifika, Pākehā and other ethnicities). Participant feedback contributed to the main themes; outlining what’s critical for successful transition and ongoing development: Self-development, Control, Fit, Networks and support, and Stability and Direction.

The completed project was launched today at the Independent Tertiary Education New Zealand Conference in Auckland.

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