Alarming drop-out rates in Dandenong

Media coverage - Dandenong Leader, 18 July 2011
Mission Australia’s State Director for Victoria, Paul Bird, has told The Dandenong Leader that only one in three young people were either full-time students or employed in Greater Dandenong.

He said more early intervention services for families, including access to financial, anger and stress management were needed before people hit crisis point.

“I think it’s easy to see schools in not helping, but in reality, if the person is not attending class or disrupting, there are limited options. I think they (schools) do a tough job with limited resources,” Mr Bird said.

In the same article a Youth Resource Officer with Springvale Police, Leading Sen-Constable Leanne Cooper, said children were dropping out of school as early as Year 7 without any follow-up.

She said many parents were happy to have their children at home, citing at least one 16-year-old girl who had not attended school since she was in Year 7.

To read the full article click here.

Story originally published in The Dandenong Leader.