New research shows that helping young people better understand and communicate their strengths could deliver between $2.1 to $5 billion for the Australian economy each year – largely driven by improved job readiness, better health, and stronger workforce participation. The report underscores the urgent need for Australia’s education system to evolve beyond a narrow focus on test scores and ranks.
The economics of effective transitions: Improving young people’s transitions through clearer pathways, a new report from Learning Creates Australia, models the likely economic impact of recognising a broader skill set in young people, unlocking as much as $260,000 in added economic value for individuals between between the ages of 21 and 30 largely due to more effective transitions into further education and employment.
The organisation has gathered extensive evidence over the past three years that shows students benefit when they are recognised for a broader range of measures. These benefits also extend to teachers and the broader school community.
Under the umbrella of their latest series, The New Economics of Education, they have analysed the potential economic benefits of recognising young people beyond their grades and traditional metrics for the first time, according to Learning Creates Australia CEO Bronwyn Lee.
“We have long known that there are huge benefits to broader recognition of skills such as increasing engagement in learning and enabling students to identify and pursue goals aligned with their passion and talents,” she said.
“This research confirms that the economics of education have changed. It is no longer enough for young people to absorb and play back knowledge. In the digital age young people also need a broader array of skills and capabilities, to be empathetic and agile thinkers and to draw on their innately human skills to tackle tremendous challenges facing the world they are inheriting.”
The modelling identified economic returns through:
- Higher earnings and productivity due to better matched pathways;
- Improved mental and physical health, reducing long-term public spending;
- Lower rates of unemployment or disengagement, especially among disadvantaged young people;
- Improved efficiency of government expenditure on welfare and health services, flowing from improved labour market and health outcomes for young Australians.
Lee says that the compelling economic evidence is a clear call to action to stop pitting knowledge against skills and capabilities.
“Young people today are facing significant challenges, and it is heartening to see that a systemic change such as this can not only lead to better education and health outcomes but also economic benefits that could go a long way towards paying off HECS debts or towards a deposit on a house,” Lee said.
“Higher education institutions and employers increasingly seek qualities that go beyond traditional ranks and scores. At the same time, ATAR, our current measure for success at the end of year 12, is already significantly out of date and not used by 75% of young people.”
“We have an opportunity to stop tinkering around the edges and redefine learning success so that we are recognising the full range of young people’s capabilities and setting them up for success throughout their lives.”
ENDS
The report was commissioned by Learning Creates Australia and developed with research partner, Nous Group who led the economic modelling. Download the report here.
This work forms part of The New Economics of Education – a series modelling the economic benefits of recognising more of young people’s learning and capabilities in senior secondary education.
Media contact – Maggie Hill (0404 196 452, maggie@hillplus.com.au).
