Page 41 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

Guiding at-risk youth through learning to work
Lessons from across Europe

4. Supporting school completion

4.1. Introduction

The reasons for disengagement are varied and young people who drop out of
school come from diverse backgrounds. Most disengaged school leavers are
usually the hardest to reach and the most unwilling to respond to the services
and opportunities provided for them (Britton et al., 2002). This is one of the
reasons why EU and national policies pay growing attention to the need to
develop a more proactive and preventive approach to school engagement. The
Commission’s Communication on efficient investments in education and training
highlighted the cost of inaction as another important reason to adopt a preventive
approach (European Commission, 2002a). Since then several European and
international studies have confirmed that, while there is clearly a cost involved in
any preventive action, the cost associated with high numbers of drop-outs can be
much greater (Wößmann and Schütz, 2006; Psacharopoulos, 2007; European
Commission, 2002b). This was also confirmed by the recent Communication on
new skills for new jobs, which states that preventing early school leaving and
improving the educational attainment of young people is crucial if they are to
acquire key competences necessary for progressing their skills (European
Commission, 2008d).
The over-arching goal of preventive approaches is to increase school
completion by helping those who are likely to drop out of education or training.
This can be done by raising aspirations, improving the wellbeing of all young
people at school, and identifying those at risk of disengagement early and
providing targeted intervention. Such approaches seek to address the reasons
why young people disengage from school and usually target either the individual
or the education and training system. Person-centred approaches address
individual circumstances, motivations and capabilities to stay in education or
training and cope with transitions between different levels of education.
Preventive approaches target structural aspects of education and training
systems, addressing issues such as giving young people opportunities to
succeed in alternative forms of education, increasing permeability of study
pathways, availability and quality of mainstream guidance and counselling
services, and the length of compulsory education. Preventive policies should not
be seen as add-on extras to the ‘core business’ of schools but central to the
retention of young people. However, in practice, many early interventions rely on

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