ADVOCATE COLUMN 2nd WEEK OCTOBER 2012

ADVOCATE COLUMN 2nd WEEK OCTOBER 2012 Otorohanga Mayor Dale Williams spoke recently at Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs evening of the challenges facing New Zealand as an aging population will result in an increasing burden on a diminishing workforce. No region will escape the consequences but regions such as Northland do have an advantage of a relatively high proportion of young people within our population. These youth are and will always be a valuable resource. In the future the demand for workers will grow and the competition for their services from outside our region will also increase. It is also true that at present we do not always provide these young people the best support that we can. On average New Zealand youth are more disadvantaged across a number of performance indicators than many other OECD countries and this disadvantage is strongly concentrated in Maori and Pacific Islanders. With 45% on New Zealand’s total unemployed being youth, this has significant impact on our future well-being. While our youth perform (comparatively) well in education, this does not follow through on average after leaving school. Otorohanga has almost zero youth unemployment. Mr Williams’ council has been successfully managing the transition from school to work amongst the youth in Otorohanga for a number of years now. They believe all young people under the age of 25 should be engaged in appropriate education, training, work or other options, which will lead to long term economic independence and well being. As equally as important as the community assisting youth in the transition from school to work is examining what we can do to ensure that what takes place within schools also assists all our young people to gain employment. One example of this would be the ability to increase student engagement through e-learning. There is strong evidence to suggest that e-learning, combined with a school improvement programme, strengthens student engagement. At Manaia View School which is low decile and has a high percentage of Maori on its roll, an e-learning programme has resulted in a significant improvement in their student’s education performance. This is not teaching technology but using technology to teach and engage students. I am sure there are many challenges to be overcome for this to happen across all our schools and that it will rely on passionate leadership from within the education sector. There are real economic and social benefits if we get this right. In particular this ensures that our young people know they are a valued part of their community.