Lyndhurst Secondary College student leader Adam Koe at the National No Dole Conference with mum Pam, left, and school Beacon coordinator and assistant principal Helen Brown.LYNDHURST Secondary College students took part in a National No Dole conference last week.
The two-day conference, which ran in Melbourne last Thursday and Friday for schools and businesses, focused on the Beacon Foundation-run No Dole program, which aims to get young people onto a positive pathway to further education, training or employment at the end of year 10.
Year 11 student and school leader Adam Koe, who spoke at the conference, said the program had given him focus and direction.
“Signing the No Dole Charter really helped me understand how important it was for me to complete year 12,” he said.
“The mock interviews were really great.
“It was good to meet real employers and the whole experience really helped me with my interview technique.”
Beacon Foundation chief executive Scott Harris said No Dole was about young people rejecting social welfare after compulsory schooling.
“For young people from third-generation welfare-dependent families, it’s hard to break that cycle of reliance,” Mr Harris said
He said the program allowed businesses to have direct contact with young people in a climate of a national skills shortage.
The Beacon Foundation was established to address the issue of youth unemployment.
Lyndhurst Secondary College will be holding a year 10 Pledge Ceremony at the school on Wednesday, 1 August, when students will agree to continue their education in 2008 either at school or through their employment as an apprentice or trainee.
