6272.0 - Participation in Education, Australia, Sep 1997  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/04/1998   
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  • More than half of youth in education last September - ABS (Media Release)

MEDIA RELEASE

April 28, 1998
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
50/98
More than half of youth in education last September - ABS

More than half (53 per cent) of Australia's 15 to 24 year old population of 2,640,000 were participating in education at September 1997, according to an ABS survey released today.

Some 1,398,000 students were either attending a school (705,000), higher education (400,000), TAFE (243,000) or were among the 50,000 who attended courses run by business colleges, industry skills centres or other educational institutions.

The number of students in this age group has risen by 63,000 since 1992, despite a drop of 96,000 in the total population for the age group over the same period.

The 693,000 15 to 24 year olds persons attending tertiary education in September 1997 was an increase of 30,000 over the 1996 figure with the emphasis shifting away from part-time participation (down 14,000) and towards full-time (up 43,000).

Persons born overseas continued to have a higher education participation rate (63 per cent) than persons born in Australia (51 per cent).

435,000 tertiary students, or 63 per cent of the total, had previously attended government schools. At higher education institutions this figure was 221,000 (55 per cent) and at TAFE's 181,000 (74 per cent).

Females outnumbered males by 41,000 at higher education institutions. The reverse was true at TAFE where 58,000 more males than females were enrolled.

Full details are published in Participation in Education (Persons aged 15 to 24), Australia (cat. no. 6272.0) available at all ABS Bookshops.