Gateway supported short-term, work-based placements while Trades Academies provided learning in trades-related. (File photo) Photo: Supplied/ UCOL
Teenagers who gain trade and workplace experience at school are more likely to get a qualification and complete apprenticeships, a report finds.
A Ministry of Education report said students who participated in the Gateway and Trades Academy programmes were also more likely to be in substantial employment by the age of 20 than other students with similar characteristics.
The report considered the cohorts that participated in the programmes in 2014 and in 2018 and compared their education and employment outcomes with similar students who did not participate.
It said Gateway was set up in 2001 and supported short-term, work-based placements while Trades Academies had provided learning in trades-related fields since 2010.
"Both programmes increased the likelihood of students staying in education at age 17 and achieving a Level 2 or higher qualification by age 18.
"These effects were consistent across genders and ethnic groups," the report said.
"Men in both programmes were more likely to enrol in and complete apprenticeships, though rates remained lower for Māori and Pacific men. Women's apprenticeship participation remained low.
"Both programmes reduced the likelihood of being in limited employment and increased students being in substantial employment, particularly for men.
"Gateway had a stronger effect than Trades Academies in reducing limited employment for women, especially Māori and Pacific women."
The report said 87-90 percent of Gateway and Trades Academy students had a level two qualification by the age of 18, compared with 78-79 percent for similar students who had done neither programme.
It said 10-12 percent had completed an apprenticeship by age 24, compared with six percent for similar students.
About a quarter of the group of similar students were in limited employment when they were 18, compared to 16-19 percent for the cohorts that had participated in the programmes.
By age 20, 46-53 percent of the Trades Academy and Gateway cohorts were in substantial employment, compared with 35-38 percent for the group that had done neither programme.
The report said the programmes appeared to have "a protective role for educational participation and achievement during the pandemic".
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