Graduates and those running a highly successful Illawarra student engagement program for young people from multicultural backgrounds are "gutted" the program is being canned.
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'Links to Learning' has been operating in the Illawarra for more than 20 years.
Local non-profit organisation the Multicultural Communities Council of MCCI (MCCI) runs the program.
MCCI chief executive officer Chris Lacey, said that the Department of Education, which has funded Links to Learning programs throughout NSW for more than two decades, had cancelled the program from June 2021.
"We are at a loss as to why the program has been cancelled. A review completed by the Department in 2020 has not been released and our representations to the Minister and Department to understand why the program has been axed have not been responded to," Mr Lacey said.
A spokesman for the Department of Education told the Mercury "the decision to cease the Links to Learning Community Grants Program was based on a program evaluation, which did not provide strong evidence of positive outcomes from the program".
Jaber Ayoub, who works at Wollongong barber shop Cuts on Kembla, is one of many successful Links to Learning program graduates.
"I'm so glad I did the program. It gave me the confidence I needed, especially in terms of my communicatiion skills. Being able to talk to all types of people is important for a barber," the 22-year-old said.
"I'm gutted to hear that the program is being scrapped. A lot of people are going to miss out on doing a great program."
For over 20 years the MCCI program has worked with 60 young people from multicultural backgrounds in partnership with six local high schools each year to support student engagement and high school completion.
"Schools refer some of their most vulnerable students to us for a 12-month program of support," Mr Lacey said.
"Typically, students come from vulnerable families, have attendance problems, or are having difficulty with their learning or relationships within the school environment. Many students in the program come from refugee backgrounds and are newly arrived to Australia.
"We've had many graduates of our program go on to complete Year 12, progress to university or TAFE study, find employment, start small-businesses, and even play representative sport.
"Our program was awarded the NSW Youth Week award for excellence in 2013 and 2017."
Each year about two-thirds of participants in the MCCI program also complete the prestigious international Duke of Edinburgh Award as part of their engagement with Links to Learning.
Such is the respect with which our program is held, we were even invited to travel to London in 2015 by the Late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, to give a presentation on the impact of our work in Links to Learning to a group of international sponsors for the Duke of Edinburgh Award initiative.
- MCCI chief executive officer Chris lacey
"Such is the respect with which our program is held, we were even invited to travel to London in 2015 by the Late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, to give a presentation on the impact of our work in Links to Learning to a group of international sponsors for the Duke of Edinburgh Award initiative.
"And when Prince Edward visited the region recently, our team and students were part of a select group of young people that His Royal Highness wanted to meet," Mr Lacey said.
He said a replacement student engagement program went to tender in March 2021, but schools in the Illawarra were excluded from the scope of the new tender.
Mr Lacey said as a result multicultural students at risk in the region will no longer have access to a highly valued program to support their learning and engagement in the school environment.
"No one has explained to us how Illawarra students from multicultural backgrounds will now be supported into the future," he said.
The Department of Education spokesman said Illawarra schools could continue working with MCCI, adding that "the Perfect Presence Pilot Program will target 25 Principal Networks across NSW with the highest number of students in Years 8, 9 or 10 with between two and four suspensions and an attendance rate between 70-90 per cent".
MCCI's long term Chairman, Ken Habak said he was deeply disappointed and concerned about the exclusion of Illawarra schools from the new program and its impact on multicultural students in the region.
"With high youth unemployment levels and school suspension rates in the region higher than NSW averages now was not the time to be cutting successful student engagement programs in the Illawarra," Mr Habak said.
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