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Tuesday, 11 March, 2014
A Star News Group publication Phone: 9933 4800
No. 570 50c 0c iin inc. nc c.. G GST
Screen time
Wool worker er
Living in the West
Maynard d lifts Altona
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SPORT
Youth plan leads By ALESHA CAPONE
LEADWEST has launched a plan to improve the high level of youth unemployment and education retention rates in the West. According to a new study Brotherhood of St Laurence study, the North-West and West of Melbourne have the highest rates of unemployment among people aged 15 to 24 in the metropolitan area. The rate of youth unemployment in the North-west is 14.8 per cent and 13.6 per cent in the West. To help address the problem, LeadWest has announced plans to work with social researcher Dr Ruth Morton on a project which will investigate “youth engagement in and disengagement from education and training” in the West compared to the rest of Melbourne and Victoria. LeadWest CEO Craig Rowley said research had identified the “paramount importance” of developing a strong skills base in the region, as outlined in the Western Agenda plan. “One of the regional goals set out in the Western Agenda is to achieve higher school retention rates and also shift the achievement curve in Melbourne’s West,” Mr Rowley said.
“Dr Morton will also provide LeadWest with a review of existing research and evidence around youth engagement and transitions. “This will clarify which policy developments are likely to have the most impact in improving youth engagement levels in Melbourne’s west.” Figures from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations show the rate of full-time unemployment among teenagers looking for work in the West was 39 per cent in 2013. This was higher than the national average of 25 per cent. A report into a Brotherhood of St Laurence 2012 youth employment project, based in Caroline Springs, said the program attracted “a substantial number of 15-year-old and 16-year-old disengaged learners”. Western Suburbs youth worker Les Twentyman said he had recently received several calls from parents concerned about their teenagers dealing or using methamphetamines after losing jobs. “Now with all the job losses at Ford, Toyota and Qantas, lots of kids think, ‘Oh yeah, even if I go to school, I’m never going to get a job’,” he said.
Cool hand Kozole
THE cards fell the right way for a Wyndham Vale man who took home $100,000 in cash and prizes in a poker tournament recently. Matthew Kozole’s family was doing it tough just before the win after his mother passed away last September. He said he felt like she was watching over him when he knocked out over 500 other poker players to win the top prize in The Main Event poker tournament held at Crown Casino at the beginning of this month. Mr Kozole, 21, told Star he would use the winnings to support his family, pay off his car and take his girlfriend on a trip to the USA. Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
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