Ms Koop said that in 2007, a report called Dropping off the Edge came out which identified Benalla people, young people in particular, as being highly disadvantaged. It said the one thing which could break this disadvantage was education. In 2010 Tomorrow Today decided to do something about this.
Ms Koop described their focus on Early Childhood programs such as the PEEP program, the improved outcomes which have been, statistically as well as anecdotally, evident resulting from this work and the subsequent programs introduced to improve access of young people to work experience. She said that in a 2017 survey, only a bit more than 30 per cent of Benalla students were having work experience. “But then over the next two years, we boosted that [workplace experience involvement] to 90 per cent”. Ms Koop said Tomorrow Today is now supported by a highly productive partnership of 124 local partners. “They run from all schools to recruitment companies, Benalla Health, employers, and Benalla Council”.
David Palmer