After years of dreaming, planning, and campaigning, we can finally announce the launch of Project Educate, Project Youth’s Distance Education school. 

Driven by our mission to create a future where all young people can thrive, the team here at PY understand the importance of education, and recognise that there are young people in our community that are not suited to the traditional education setting.

Project Educate will support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds that are missing from education, to re-engage them in learning. 

Why is this so important, you ask? 

Well, education has important social and employment outcomes for young people, as well as being a protective factor for well-being. Education is key for young people to thrive in society thereby avoiding poverty, homelessness and unemployment.

Without education, young people are less likely to participate in work or skill development, and are more likely to rely on financial assistance from government. 

Without education, young people are more at risk of social isolation and mental ill-health. 

Without education, young people could be more likely to commit crime. Truancy and crime are causally linked, as well as between failure to complete high school and criminal activity. 

Yet because of reasons such as bullying, family dysfunction, homelessness, and mental-ill health, we know young people living in our community that do not attend school.

We also know that alternative education WORKS. Project Youth are currently involved with 44 young people, all under age 17 who are missing from education and are known to local home school liaison officers. 22 of these young people successfully attended and gained certification in a full time 8-week course with Project Youth in a supported learning environment.

Project Educate provides the long-term solution to youth disengagement at school - a flexible and socially inclusive education service. Based on a ‘wrap-around’ model, we won’t just provide a classroom and a teacher. We will collect young people from their home and transport them to school. We will have small class sizes, innovative teaching strategies, and one-on-one tuition. 

We will provide trauma-informed support, personalised case management, court support, support with medical appointments, housing assistance, clothing, and food supplies where required. We will also facilitate effective transition to other support services, thereby removing barriers to education, including help for drug and alcohol dependency, and mental health support.

But, this is just the beginning.

We need funding. 

You can help to make Project Educate accessible for more than just one young student. You can help to build a community to be proud of by empowering all disadvantaged young people to get an education, get jobs, avoid crime and become a contributing member of society. 

To enquire about helping to fund Project Educate, please email fundraising@projectyouth.org.au