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Mahurangi College is struggling to find work experience placements for senior students and is reaching out to local businesses.
The school’s Gateway programme, which helps prepare Year 13 students for the work place, is normally full at this time of year. However, this year, there are still two students without a placement.
Gateway coordinator Lori Yau believes this is a reflection of the economic climate and perhaps a reluctance by businesses to take on young students for work experience.
“Local businesses don’t always have the capacity to help supervise unskilled workers, also staffing issues with some companies makes it really difficult,” she says.
“But realistically, it is the only way they will learn about the day-to-day world of work.”
Mahurangi Year 13 dean and careers advisor Catherine Johnston says the programme normally caters for about 20 students, who spend time in a business learning the realities of work.
Prior to covid, the school, with the assistance of the One Mahurangi Business Association, tried to set up a database of businesses who were prepared to offer students work experience.
“Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful,” Johnston says. “And then covid happened and now many businesses are struggling.”
Young people who experience just four or more interactions with employers are five times less likely to be unemployed.
Education and Employers Taskforce, United Kingdom
The opportunity to see first-hand what fulltime employment is like is invaluable and Johnston says that, in an ideal world, students would be introduced to work experience options from Year 10 onwards.
However, she is encouraged by the good response the school has had to its annual careers evening, which will be held on August 3, from 7pm.
“We still have display spaces available though, so if any business is interested in showcasing the career opportunities it can offer, I would welcome their enquiries.” (See contact details at the end of this story).
“We recently had last year’s Farmer of the Year, Tim Dangen, talk to the students and he blew them away with what’s available in the rural sector.
“Igniting that spark of interest in the students, and helping them to find their passion, is so important.”
Mahurangi College’s work to prepare students for fulltime employment comes against a backdrop of growing concern among employers about the literacy and numeracy skills of school leavers.
A research report published by The Education Hub early last year revealed that by the age of 15, almost 40 per cent of teenagers were struggling to read and write.
The report went on to say that research had demonstrated a significant relationship between literacy and the ability to reason efficiently and critically, particularly in the context of solving novel problems.
The report suggested that improving literacy levels would also improve the development of so-called soft skills and higher order thinking skills.
But it goes beyond just literacy and numeracy. Employers say that many young people have poor communication skills and don’t understand normal workplace expectations such as being punctual and reliable.
Johnston says that while there is no doubt that covid has impacted student outlooks and aspirations, there is a generation coming through that wants to find “the easy way”.
“They don’t particularly like to challenge themselves and they don’t like to be challenged by others.
They like to be given things on a platter.
“This isn’t all students – some students work really hard – but there are a significant number of students who think that what they want will just happen without considering what is involved in making it happen.”
Given the scenario of a first-year apprentice mechanic refusing to sweep the workshop floor because he said it was beneath him, Johnston said she could quite believe it.
“I can see many of the Year 13 students having that mindset. They have lost the understanding that you have to work your way up.”
While Johnston says schools have a role to play in preparing students for work, so do parents and extended whanau.
“We assume that everyone knows how to parent, but they don’t. You do have to learn and if you haven’t got role models in your life, then how are parents expected to know how to prepare their children?
“The concept of parenting has changed considerably. Many parents shy away from making hard decision because they want to be their child’s best friend. The idea of tough love seems to have gone.
“We used to have a staff member who ran a Parenting Toolkit programme through the school, but this hasn’t been available for quite some time.”
Johnston says students following a vocational pathway possibly benefit more than the more academic students, who are looking at a tertiary pathway, because the vocational programme covers interview techniques, filling out forms and other basic employment skills.
If a business would like to know more about joining the Gateway programme, they should contact either Lori Yau at l.yau@mahurangi.school.nz or Catherine Johnston at hoy13@mahurangi.school.nz. Or phone the school on 425 8039.
Basic skills missing
• 83% of job applicants are lacking communication skills and 73% are lacking initiative.
• The lack of literacy and numeracy skills has increased significantly since the 2022 Survey (from 19-22% to 43-44%).
Employers and Manufacturers Association Skills Shortage Survey, March 2023
