Figures released yesterday by Minister for Education Anne Tolley show that the Youth Guarantee scheme is failing to attract students, with 466 places unfilled, Labour associate spokesperson for Tertiary Education Carmel Sepuloni said.

“The Youth Guarantee scheme was aimed at getting disengaged youth back into education. We can see from these figures that this goal is far from being achieved – in Auckland alone, over 200 places remain unfilled.

“This is not a sign that young people don’t want the chance to advance their education. Rather, it is a reflection on the lack of planning that went into this scheme.

“Students enrolled under the Youth Guarantee scheme are not obliged to pay fees. They are not eligible, however, to receive student loans or any transport assistance. Without this financial assistance, many young people who would be eligible for the Youth Guarantee scheme simply cannot afford to study,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

“I hope that these figures prompt the Minister for Education to acknowledge that this scheme is not working as intended, and look for further ways to help disengaged sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds into further education or training.”

The Youth MP selected to represent Mangere for the 2010 Youth Parliament is Ms Marietalini Ropeti-Iupeli of Mangere College.

Marietalini was selected from 10 other candidates from local schools across Mangere at a community meeting last night.

“All 10 youths were strong candidates.  They were articulate, fearless and the issues they spoke about showed the depth of intelligence they possessed.  It’s a real shame I can only nominate one,” says Labour MP for Mangere, Su’a William Sio.

“In the end, the Selection Panel chose Marietalini because she stood out and she’ll be an outstanding representative of Mangere at Youth Parliament.”

“It was a real pleasure to have listened to the other well qualified candidates during the evening and really wanted to express my thanks and gratitude to the others, for putting themselves forward and giving it a go,” says  Su’a William Sio.

Marietalini will be joining other Youth MPs from across the country to take part in Youth Parliament which is to be held from the 6-7 July in Wellington and aims to give young people a brief experience of what its like to be a Member of Parliament.

“I look forward to Marietalini representing the youth of Mangere and am sure it will be a positive and interesting experience for her”, says Su’a William Sio 

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