Project Description
Problems We Identified
By enrolling in secondary school, young people can advance their knowledge and productivity, which frequently results in higher personal earnings as well as better health and wellbeing outcomes. Having a highly skilled workforce helps the economy flourish (World Bank 2005). Year 12 graduates are more likely to pursue more education or training and have a smoother transition into the workforce (ABS 2011). Some of them choose to attend TAFE or colleges, some opt to work, and some are unsure about their own futures. However, a study found around a quarter of young people around one in four young people misses out on important educational milestones or falls behind them.
Our Pitch video for Pinpoint.
Project Description
There are many reasons that students do not choose to continue studying after year 12, but many of them find it difficult to go back to school without resources or access. It is foremost to provide equal educational access for people to break the disadvantaged cycle, and increase choices for skill development.
One of the keys to giving students learning opportunities to prepare for life after graduation is connecting local schools with local businesses and organisations; it's essential that schools or communities that are underrepresented in Tertiary education have more connections with service providers so that their students will be given more opportunities to arm themselves with technical or social skills needed in further study or employment.
In light of this, we developed "Pinpoint," an app whose main goal is to improve a person's chance of breaking the cycle of disadvantage. It provides them with learning opportunities for careers when they graduate from high school and links them with local communities. Ultimately, it helps young people nurture a growth mindset.
Users of "Pinpoint" can find nearby communities that offer education or training services in the vicinity of where they now reside. The app selects the services that meet the users' interests or requirements using a cutting-edge algorithm. By doing this, the chance of dropouts is reduced and training effectiveness is increased, enabling the young people to continue their education or find jobs.
Local schools can use the app "Pinpoint" to present their students to a range of extracurricular courses that assist them in choosing a career, which will be beneficial to both the schools and the local community. For example, a community's chances of receiving more money from the local government will improve if more young people take advantage of the educational and training opportunities available there.
Our app Pinpoint’s target audience are as follows:
students graduating from year 12
young people leaving schools due to financial difficulties
young people leaving schools due to family issues
working people want to go back to school for career development
Pinpoint's Features
- Map with an embedded list of nearby businesses and communities that provide educational or training services
- Simple-to-follow training paths that can reduce dropout rates and accelerate learning
- Cutting-edge algorithm that suggests to users the educational or training services that most closely match their interests or demands
- Reward system that motivates consumers to pursue additional training
Future Scope
Following the launch, we will work with schools first where there has been the greatest percentage increase in the number of students who postponed their future studies or were seeking for work but were not enrolled in any kind of training or education - to be specific, Yeshivah College, Sacred Heart College, and Cathedral College Wangaratt are going to be our first focus. Following that, we assess how the data changed a year later and include all of the suburbs with low participation rates in tertiary education. We intend to focus on all local schools and communities in Australia within two years of our launch.