Lifelong Learning Programme

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Lifelong Learning Project - School Inclusion - Preventing Early School Leaving

Database of Publications

TITLE OF THE PUBLICATION:

Early School Leavers Survey

SURNAME AND NAME OF AUTHOR(S):

Queensland Government

PUBLISHER:

Queensland Government

PLACE AND DATE OF PUBLICATION:

State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and Employment) 2005-2012

TYPE OF PUBLICATION:

Survey

LANGUAGE/S OF PUBLICATION:

English

LANGUAGE OF REVIEW:

English

DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS:

The Department of Education, Training and Employment of the Queensland Government (Australia) was commissioned by the State authorities to conduct a state-wide survey, called “Next Step”, on the problem of early school leaving. This practice started in 2007 and is meant to continue for five years. Students’ are asked about their decision of dropping out from school before the end of the cycle of studies; they can choose either an online questionnaire or a computer-assisted telephone interview to answer the survey. The questions that are most frequently asked in the survey are about whether the dropped out students work or not and what kind of work do they do, what are they going to do after having left school and to give some information about their parents’ lives. Recently, the Queensland Government decided to take into account not only government schools, but also the non-government ones (“2012 Early School Leavers Survey” includes this new branch). The purpose of this instrument is to evaluate the degree to which early leaving is occurring in Queensland schools, so that the Government can work on the problem and assist students that show this uneasiness. The Department of Education adopted as its motto the concept of “learning or earning”: its aim is to successfully assist students in the transition towards education or employment. The results of each survey are to be found in the Government’s website, the 2012 survey will be available in 2013.

COMMENTS ON THIS PUBLICATION:

This survey on early school leavers represents a useful tool for the Queensland Government: it allows the Department of Education to analyze year by year the development of the scholastic dropout problem. The Government gives particular attention and really cares about the lives’ condition of students in its State. Through the mean of the survey new policies can be implemented in order to improve the current situation in Queensland. The annual surveys are published in the Government’s website, so that all the people can look at them and make their own position on this issue. Each report specifies the various steps that made up the survey in order to help the reader following a coherent point of view in analyzing the data. The participation of students to these surveys has been very high and this testifies the success of this method. It represents an example of concrete action in favor of students that need to be supported in a critical phase of their lives. The continuous monitoring of the problem offers a long-term perspective of analysis, so that people can evaluate the goodness and the effectiveness of the Government’s policies regarding the early school leaving theme. The possibility to interact directly with the Department of Education, Training and Employment, asking for information on this matter or expressing their own opinion, gives way to the citizens to be active participants in society they live in.

NAME OF COMPILER:

Sara Ciabattini

NAME OF INSTITUTION:

Pixel Association

ROLE:

Project Assistant



Zone d'identification

4 mars 2013

Lancement du Module 5 “Soutien externe et coopération”

Au cours du mois de mars 2013, les partenaires forment les enseignants impliqués dans le projet au Module 5 "Soutien externe et coopération". Le module examine les ressources et soutiens externes pour les enseignants et élèves pour les aider à prévenir le décrochage scolaire.

School Inclusion - Copyright 2008 - Ce projet a bénéficié du soutien financié de la Commission européenne

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