Taking someone else's place

on any post-school course is something that should not be allowed. 

I am not talking about "cheating" here. This is done in a legal way but it is something which should not be allowed to happen.

I am talking about some of those "perpetual students" and others who do courses but never finish them in order to avoid going to work. They take up places which could be given to other students who are genuinely interested in finding work.

I have come across two such people in the past month. One has sought help from me. The other person has not.

One person is a person with a great many IT skills but he has never completed a qualification. He had been on unemployment benefits of one sort or another for more than twenty years. More than once he has been sent to a further education establishment to do a course which would lead to employment. He has always managed not to complete the course. He will do something like "fail" a unit more times than he is permitted to do the exam. It is very unlikely he does this consciously. It simply happens. Put that aside and he does do a lot of good for others. He will help them with all their computer issues. He will help them design their websites and much more. Sometimes he gets paid something and sometimes he simply does it because it gives him something to do. He is often very busy indeed helping other people.

We talked about this for a long time. Did he want a job? In the end we came to the conclusion he is afraid of finding a job. He is afraid of failing - and so he fails. I suspect even if he did find a job he would fail now. He is afraid of taking that much responsibility for himself. He needs help but not the sort of help I can give him. It is likely he will just go on living a very simple life on unemployment benefits until he reaches age pension age. His government "case" workers will send him off to do another course. They will "warn" him and more. He will take up a place on a course that someone else could use and possibly benefit from but the law requires that he be given a "chance" to prove himself.

No, I do not know what the answer is.

The other person has a "work history" of sorts. It is very patchy. This person left school and went to a "business college" where she was supposedly studying shorthand and typing and office skills. It should have led to good employment but she did not complete the course. Since then she has moved within states and across states. She has worked in a saddlery, in shops, as a cleaner and in aged care. None of the positions have lasted long because she has a history of alcohol problems and minor drug use. In between she has been on unemployment benefits and "done" courses that were supposed to lead to permanent employment. 

She is now 66 and out of work again. This time she has been enrolled in yet another "nursing" course at a university. (Yes, for some people this could lead to a degree. I know two people who are actually trying to get qualifications this way. One of them left school "sooner than I should have" and the other "had to leave because Dad was dying and we needed some money". Both of them recognise they need to get a qualification and their motivation to do the course is high.) But the 66yr old? For all she talks about being "enrolled" it is in just one unit. It is only part of the requirement for one subject. This is the bare minimum to satisfy the requirements of being a "student" in a priority area. It is going to require very little effort on her part. She does not have to pay any fees.

Next January this person will be eligible for the age pension. She will be transferred to that. Any further study will involve her paying fees - and that is not going to happen.

I am all too well aware of the need for people to do more than "finish school" now. They need qualifications for almost all forms of even the most basic employment. But is it right to have someone who will get the age pension in less than twelve months take a place that could be given to someone who actually has at least some years of working life ahead of them?