Key element 3: Student support services
Career education programs, activities and experiences will continue to be provided in schools to increase student awareness about the rapidly changing nature of work and careers. Accordingly, career education will:
- be explicitly included in the school curriculum
- involve community members such as employers and parents
- link education, labour market and welfare services
- provide young people with the opportunity to acquire and articulate achievement of generic skills and competencies.
The provision of readily accessible, well-organised, accurate, comprehensive and current information is a vital element of the new framework. This information is essential for all young people to be able to meet the demands of the knowledge economy. In addition to these features, information also needs to be broader and include careers and labour market information to enable students to make informed transition decisions.
The effective provision of this information involves schools cooperating with employers, employment services and other relevant organisations in gathering and disseminating local industrial trends and job opportunities. There is a growing realisation that not all of the necessary information is within schools and there is a need for linkages to be established to ensure that young people have access. In addition to this, the production of high quality information in a variety of formats able to be used independently by young people is required.
High quality information services alone are not enough. Effective student support services require facilities which provide personal help and assistance. Case management approaches drawing on the professional counselling services available within the school and in the wider community are necessary to support many young people experiencing difficulties in transition. School-community partnerships will assist young people in transition by establishing arrangements to:
- connect them to appropriate learning and work opportunities
- provide mentoring, brokering or other appropriate support
- assist them in developing personal transition plans and becoming informed about new and expanding opportunities in the labour market.