[Sub ID 4624] Supporting Teenagers with Education, Mothering and Mentoring (STEMM Program)

Submission ID: 4624
Organisation name: STEMM Program
Contact name: Mrs Jacqui Deane
State: QLD
Contact email: jdean48@eq.edu.au
Contact number: 0447202061

Which priority group of the Try, Test and Learn Fund does your idea support?
Young parents

What need or issue are you trying to address?
Research demonstrates that pregnant and parenting young people are less likely to finish their education, less likely to find a good job, and more likely to end up as single parents and bringing up their children in poverty. (Hay, 2010)

Very few school-aged mothers complete secondary school. For many of these mothers, this is because preventable barriers to continued schooling are not addressed. These barriers include inflexible school policies and procedures, a lack of adequate childcare and transportation, and other practical difficulties that make continuing education very difficult. (Barling, 2007)

What is your idea?
“By Educating a Mother, You Educate a Family” is the Mantra adopted by STEMM to empower pregnant and parenting young women by providing innovative, alternative pathways to education to achieve certified outcomes for employment and tertiary studies, as well as personal and parenting support, mentoring and community access. By implementing Hays Best Practice Domain Model for supporting Pregnant and Parenting students, STEMM very strongly implements the Learning Objectives of ‘new pathways’ and ‘new opportunities to learn” through having innovative and distinctive strategies responsive to community and student needs.

Thus, the STEMM Program has been able to breakdown the barriers for this client group to engage in education and employment so as to break the cycle of welfare dependency and poverty. The provision of a ‘safe space’ with an early intervention wrap around program provides the young mums an opportunity to engage in educational programs which meets their needs to attain certifiable outcomes.