In her farewell address to the State’s 2022 Year 12 students, the Minister for Education, Grace Grace said they could look forward to a future that was brighter than ever.
Ms Grace noted that the 2022 Next Step survey revealed that the graduating students’ predecessors, the Class of 2021, had recorded the highest engagement in further education and training in more than a decade.
“This year’s graduating Queensland Year 12 students can celebrate their success knowing a bright future of good jobs and a great lifestyle lies ahead of them,” Ms Grace said.
“Participation in employment by last year’s Year 12 students has increased 3.2 percentage points to above pre-pandemic levels and the highest rate since 2009, while participation in education and training has also reached pre-pandemic levels.”
She said the Next Step survey showed that young people had been highly resilient in their learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m pleased to see the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduates engaging in education, training or employment has continued to increase and is now up to 76.7 per cent, an increase of almost seven percentage points since 2019,” the Minister said.
“Bachelor Degree studies remain the most popular destination for our Year 12 students after graduating,” she said.
“In the Brisbane Local Government area alone, participation in education, training and employment by the most recent Year 12 graduates rose to 93.8 in 2022 from 90.6 per cent in 2019.”
Ms Grace said more than 51,000 Year 12 students from 2021 were invited to participate in the 2022 Next Step survey, with more than 39,000 providing a response.
