Fed: Rudd rolls out Struggle St financial assistance package =3D2
05 Apr 2009 3:44 PM
At a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting later this month, the federal government will propose that every Australian under the age of 25 is guaranteed access to a school, training or higher education place.
"I will not stand idly by and watch a generation of young people have their potential, their talents and enthusiasm wasted in an economic downturn," Mr Rudd said.
Students who had not completed year 10 should remain in school and those under 17 years should be engaged in full-time education or work, he said.
The government will also move a motion at COAG to bring forward the goal of 90 per cent year 12 or equivalent attainment from 2020 to 2015.
"That will mean starting now," Mr Rudd said.
The measures were central to the government's education revolution and would support young people to weather the storm that lay ahead in an employment market that would be more difficult to negotiate, he said.
