The release of a new Youth Guarantee Secondary-Tertiary pilot programme, Dual Pathways, was released yesterday by tertiary education, skills and employment minister Steven Joyce and education minister Hekia Parata.
Some tertiary providers and industry training organisations already collaborate with schools to offer a dual pathway approach. For example, Wintec, Fairfield College and Fraser High School in Hamilton have jointly developed a 3+2 approach to provide students with a pathway into engineering. Around 30 Year 12 and 13 students from both schools are spending two days a week taking part in mechanical and civil engineering courses at the tertiary provider.
During the other three days, these students’ maths and physics school subjects are targeted towards engineering. At the end of 2016, participating students will have satisfied the necessary criteria to enrol in Wintec’s New Zealand Diploma in Engineering programme and be on track to complete the qualification in 2018.
One of the unique new features of DualPathways is an incentive payment for both the tertiary provider and the school if a DualPathways student moves into employment during the year and is supported to continue a qualification.
“DualPathways will support expansion of collaboration between secondary schools and tertiary providers, by providing additional funding for transport and pastoral care. Fees-free funding rates will ensure that students do not need to pay tuition subsidies for tertiary components of their programme,” says Joyce.
“Industry training organisations can also participate in DualPathways by partnering up with a tertiary provider to strengthen links with employers and industry. And the new incentive payments to providers will remove any barriers to getting young people into a full-time career while they are in the programme.”
Tertiary providers will be able to apply for approximately 1,200 places which will be available for 2017, and approximately 1,500 places for 2018.
“We are making great progress reducing the number of disengaged young people, with those not in work or training aged 15-19 years at record low levels,” says Joyce. “This new approach will help because it allows young people to more fully explore career options while they are still enrolled at school, and get a head start on gaining the skills which employers are looking for.
“More young people are achieving the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 2 than ever before, and we are now focusing particularly on providing those young people with relevant next steps into employment or further education,” says Parata.
DualPathways students will be enrolled part-time in secondary school at Year 12 or 13 and part-time in either tertiary education or industry training. The programme will come into effect next year and replaces a small scale Secondary-Tertiary pilot that finishes in December this year.
More information on DualPathways is available HERE.
