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Mirboo North Secondary College students Lauren Cain and Sinead Allen and Korumburra Secondary College student Daniel Longdon were given the opportunity to share their insights with the Victorian Government on how to keep rural students at school for longer.

Lauren, Sinead and Daniel were among 13 students selected from regional Victoria as Rural Youth Ambassadors and met with Higher Education and Skills Minister Peter Hall and Education Minister Martin Dixon at Parliament House on Wednesday to discuss their ideas.

Deputy Premier and Member for Gippsland South Peter Ryan said the ambassadors participated in a range of workshops to explore strategies for keeping rural students engaged in learning and had produced a report, Engaging and Retaining Rural Young People in Learning, which contained a number of valuable recommendations.

“Over the past 10 months the students have participated in workshops, web forums and face-to-face meetings to examine the key factors affecting the number of students completing year 12 in rural and regional Victoria, including course options, technology in the classroom and local training and tertiary options,” Mr Ryan said.

“Their insights and first-hand experiences will be a valuable tool for future planning.”

Mr Ryan said the report recommended a range of strategies including:

· Supporting all pre-service teachers to undertake a placement within a rural community;
· Promoting and maintaining a culture of high expectations to support rural communities;
· Regular professional development for rural teachers to update their skills in using the latest technology;
· Implementing mentoring initiatives, such as Big Brother Big Sister; and
· Rural schools developing a network of ex-students who are willing to provide support and guidance to current students.

Mr Ryan said the Rural Youth Ambassadors initiative is supported by the Country Education Project and the Victorian Student Representative Council (SRC).

“The project complements a raft of Victorian Coalition Government initiatives to assist rural students, including $5 million for the Local Solutions Year 12 Retention Fund which enables government, Catholic and independent schools to design and deliver programs to improve retention rates and pathway options for senior students,” Mr Ryan said.

“A Rural Education Reference Group, comprising two Rural Youth Ambassadors, has also been established to assist in developing strategies to address the type of issues contained in the Rural Youth Ambassadors’ report.”

Mr Ryan said the Victorian Coalition Government had also established a $20 million Regional Partnerships Facilitation Fund to help students gain easier access to higher education opportunities in regional Victoria.

Victorian Rural Youth Ambassadors

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