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THE Government plans to keep young New Zealanders in education or training until they turn 19.
Citing the dismal chances of 16 and 17-year-olds getting jobs, Tertiary Education Minister Steve Maharey said the Government would probably include an "education and training leaving age" of 19 in its manifesto this year.
It meant a commitment to keeping anyone aged 18 or under in school, in some other form of vocational training, or tertiary education until they got a job.
Mr Maharey conceded that the cost could be huge - one reason why the Government could not afford to implement it until its next term if it won the election.
The policy was not expected to increase school rolls because the focus was on directing youths into skills-based training and halting skyrocketing teen unemployment.
Mr Maharey confirmed that the school-leaving aged would stay at 16 and it would be impossible to "force" anyone to do anything.
Instead he expected that "99.9 per cent" of young people would agree to do training because the options would be so attractive. They would include taxpayer-funded vocational courses much more suited to teens not achieving in schools.
However, it would not mean an across-the-board allowance for all young people involved in training.
Statistics show unemployment among 16 and 17-year-olds, most of whom are not eligible for a welfare benefit, is reaching epidemic levels. "Relatively few 16 and 17-year-olds can realistically expect to leave school and get a full-time job," Mr Maharey said.
In 1996, more than a quarter of all 16-year-olds (about 14,000 people) had left school but did not have a job.
Draft papers by Skill New Zealand on the idea say school is not appropriate for some senior students.

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