Pathways

Careers

This year several reports were published which will inform the future Pathways for students at the College.

The Bradley Review on Higher Education In 2009 the Bradley Review recommended the government lift the cap on the number of students universities could enrol. The government hopes that by 2025, 40% of Australians aged 25–34 will have a bachelors degree or better, compared with about 32% now. From 2012 the government won’t be telling universities how many undergraduate students they can enrol, except in medicine. Under the new student demand-driven funding system, universities will decide how many places they will offer and in which courses. Funding will depend on how many students the universities attract. This leaves each university with a situation of uncertainty. How many students will they attract? What courses will students most want to undertake? What effect will this student led demand have on university staffing? Will more students want to go to Melbourne and Monash Universities? What effect will this have on ATAR scores? If a particular university loses students, will some courses go? This next year will certainly be an unpredictable one for higher education providers.

Family School Partnerships and PACTS A strong recommendation from a report conducted by DEEWR, is the effectiveness of the Parents as Career Transition Support Program (PACTS) which we have running at De La Salle College. The PACTS program is seen as very effective in building the confidence of parents to assist in their teenager’s career transition choices. The program equips parents with up-to-date relevant information and skills to better support their children. This year we ran four groups of PACTS sessions with up to 100 parents participating. Many of these parents felt that the sessions were most helpful in dealing with their sons and career planning. ACER Study ACER completed a recent study of young people in Australia and reached the following conclusions: • 15 and 16 year-olds have strong, positive attitudes about their schools: 94% said they felt happy, safe and secure at school. • 6 out of 10 students plan to study at university after leaving school (this is significantly higher at De La Salle). • 50% work part time while at school, with over a half of these working more than 10 hours per week. • Student enrolments in VET is continuing to grow. Since its introduction VET studies and VCAL have contributed to improved retention rates. • VET studies have improved the post-school outcomes for those students who are not university bound by providing a smoother transition to employment or post school VET. • Just over 80% of university entrants are expected to complete their qualification. • The most common difficulties reported by first year students are ones of time pressure and achieving balance between study commitments and other aspects of life, particularly the pressure to earn money. The focus of our work has been to keep our students up to date with current trends in higher education, preparation for tertiary study, VTAC applications, work readiness and the benefits of planning. Ms Carmel Smart Pathways Coordinator

Pathways Team: Ms Carmel Smart, Ms Kerry Martin, and Ms Caroline Fitzpatrick