Alternative schools, trade colleges gaining in popularity

Alternative education providers are expanding to meet the demand of students defecting from mainstream schools. See what else is available.

Increasing numbers of Queensland students have abandoned mainstream schooling in the past decade, instead seeing a brighter future by pursuing a trade through an alternative educator.

The number of Queensland students graduating high school drastically dropped in the past three years, with current rates below those seen a decade ago.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 82.2 per cent of Queensland students who began high school in Year 7 in 2017, made it to Year 12 in 2022. This was 83.7 per cent in 2012, meaning 11,180 fewer students are finishing high school, compared to a decade ago.

Alternative providers – such as Australian Industry Trade College and YMCA Vocational Schools – are rapidly expanding to meet the demand of mainstream students wanting to defect.

The 2023-24 State Budget unveiled on Tuesday focused on more support for those choosing an apprenticeship or traineeship. It included $10.7 million to encourage apprentices and trainees to obtain their qualifications as skilled workers, an additional $4.6 million over two years to support women doing a trade apprenticeship, and an extension of the 50 per cent payroll tax rebate on apprentices’ and trainees’ eligible wages until 2024.

Australian Industry Trade College student Esther Norsgaard with Assistant Principal Rhys Cassidy at the Spring Hill campus. Picture: Richard Walker

Australian Industry Trade College’s Brisbane campus opened at the start of 2022 with 25-30 students – they now have 130.

“I think most people would agree the current school model is not fit for purpose for a growing number of young people,” AITC Brisbane assistant principal Rhys Cassidy said.

“Young people will come to us … with low self-esteem because they don’t see themselves as learners, and perhaps as second-class citizens, in the current schooling environment.

“Employers will say to us they value young people who have on-the-job skills and training … (then) they can go to university at a later date, or articulate into other training and degrees.”

Jack Boonstoppel, 16, left his previous school in Year 9. He is doing a Certificate III in Road Building Maintenance and has worked on BMD Group’s Springfield Arterial Project.

“At my old school, they weren’t going to help me much if I chose an apprenticeship. I was originally planning on doing carpentry, but they said I had to find the work myself,” he said.

Esther Norsgaard, 16, left her previous school at the end of Year 9 and joined AITC. She hopes to start training in advanced refrigeration technology next year.

“I’ve been in both public and private schools … I felt I was struggling too hard and I didn’t think I would be able to finish school,” she said.

“The teachers (here at AITC) are really supportive and they really motivate me.”

Astra Sheward, 16, left mainstream schooling in the middle of Year 10 and joined AITC. She hopes for a career in plumbing. She has also worked on Ipswich’s Springfield Arterial Project.

Students Jack Boonstoppel (left), Esther Norsgaard (back right) and Astra Sheward (front left) at AITC Spring Hill. Picture: Richard Walker

Meanwhile, YMCA Vocational Schools started as a single campus in Logan in 2010, they now have 10 campuses across South East Queensland and Bundaberg.

Their growth accelerated from 2014, with students generally favouring skills development and part-time employment pathways that can be done while they are still at high school. The popular industries include logistics, hospitality, barbering, and childcare.

YVS principal Rella Taylor-Byrne said automotive courses were also very popular.

“We’re categorised as special assistance schools, we only accept students who are referred to us by their previous school or by a counsellor or doctor,” she said.

“We specialise in young people disengaged from mainstream education … We cap our numbers at our schools to 4-5 classes and 20 students per class.

“I think this (YVS growth) is representative of changes in societal context and backgrounds of what kids are facing and the different types of education support they need.”

Ms Taylor-Byrne said she had worked in mainstream schools for 17 years previously and believes the resources are simply not there to provide the support some students need.

There is also ASE Group, a social enterprise that delivers education and employment programs to Australians of all ages. It was co-founded by Brisbane entrepreneur Taj Pabari, who described the current mainstream education system as “totally inflexible”.

Taj Pabari was named the 2017 Queensland Young Australian of the Year and The Australian Young Innovator of the Year for 2014. Photo: Jono Searle / AAP.

“We generally work with disengaged young people … they have critical thinking, creativity, and life skills that are far more developed than those academic A-grade students,” he said.

“If we look at the Youth Justice system students we work with, they are some of the most worldly-wise people you can meet. It is about converting their unproductive behaviour.

“We have programs built around self-employment … these young people are talking to real customers and it is empowering, these students are in control for the first time in their life.

“We want our young people to focus on microbusiness concepts … this can be anything from gardening or landscaping, to horticulture or eyelash therapy.”