Young people outside education

Suvi Kivelä

Research Unit for the Sociology of Education

University of Turku

Education is one of the most crucial phases in young people’s life considering its length and importance. Through vocational education young people get acquainted with their future occupational field and find their place in the society. Education also gives structure for everyday life and creates feelings of togetherness with the peer group. Being left outside education after basic educations is considered as a risk for exclusion from the so called normal life span.

Most youngsters apply for a study place after basic education, but not all succeed in getting one. According to different statistics and calculations about ten per cent of the age group is left outside upper secondary education after basic education. In addition about three per cent starts in the additional 10th grade.

The official target of Finnish Government is that 96 percent should get a place of study in upper secondary education or in additional basic education by the year 2008. My presentation describes a special project belonging to the EQUAL II-program which is striving for this “education and training guarantee” in Turku and Salo regions. As part of this VaSkooli project, the aim of the research is to find out who these young people outside education are and what kind of plans they have for the future. The main aim is to create new information and understanding over the mechanisms of exclusion and the life paths and educational careers of young people at risk, and to help to achieve the main goal of VaSkooli the education and training guarantee.