The Education Department has this week confirmed what Youth AOD workers have long known – a staggering number of young people are dropping out of school and further education.

Using a numerical tracking system that assigns a number to each young person who should be at school, the department has found more than 10,000 students in years 9 to 11 disengage from the education and training systems every year.

A further 6000 drop out within 12 months of transferring to the vocational education and training (VET) system.

Analysis of the student identification numbers showed that in May 2012, 240 students in Bendigo alone were not in schools, TAFEs or registered training organisations.

Early school leaving has worrying implications for future rates of youth unemployment.

You can read the full article here.

The news comes as the Federal Government propose a 6 month lock out period between the time a person under 30 becomes unemployed and when they are eligible for Centrelink support. To read more click here.

Youth AOD workers know that disengagement from school and work are huge risk factors for problematic drug and alcohol use. Early interventions often focus on finding ways to keep young people engaged with school. We hope that the political debate surrounding this data can lead to an understanding of the issues that make staying at school difficult and the flow on effect this has for youth unemployment.

Check out this great piece by Youth Projects about the complex issues that contribute to disengagment and close connection between students who leave school early and students whose parents are jobless. have your say about whay holds young people you know back from school and education Email.