The Anglicare Youth Engagement Program (YEP) provides an alternative education support model for young people aged 14-19 years of age who have become disengaged from mainstream education. Umair is one of the senior case managers facilitating the program, who assists in the provision of a range of services to young people, aimed at helping them re-engage with mainstream education, pursue other forms of skill development or enter employment. Many YEP students have significant barriers preventing them attending mainstream education. Umair’s role is to work one on one with students to identify barriers to education and address them through a range of internal and external supports.
Umair’s passion, energy and commitment to assisting young people has transformed YEP as a result of his efforts to build trust and rapport with students, and using his skills to keep students engaged and coming back. From an average of two students, Umair now has an average of 12 students attending regularly. He has assisted two students to move on to CIT, and is working with another two to follow that path. Umair has also assisted many other students in identifying more positive paths, with some re-engaging with mainstream education. Umair is a shining light in the sector with the energy and drive to assist students to realise that they can break the cycle and overcome problems, with many now identifying goals and working on achieving them. This program would not have been successful without Umair’s commitment and hard work
