ANKUSH Wagle (24) discovered some “crazy” statistics about youths during his internship with the Youth Affairs Council of WA (YACWA) in Leederville.
The UWA student was one of the first people to be awarded the inaugural internship through the McCusker Centre for Citizenship.
At YACWA, Mr Wagle was tasked with analysing data from two key youth surveys on the realities of finding a job and securing a driver’s license for WA youth aged 15 to 25.
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READ NOW“The surveys showed about 85 percent of youths found it hard to get a job and about 50 per cent found it hard to get a drivers license; it was crazy,” he said.
He said the surveys did not show the issues youths faced in getting a job or drivers license, but he said the statistics were “interesting.”
Studying politics and economics, Mr Wagle had already fulfilled his course requirements but applied for an internship as a personal challenge, and for some real-life experience of public policy.
“It was a great learning experience to work with an organisation really trying to change public policy and to make a real impact on issues that matter to young people,” he said.
YACWA chief executive Ross Wortham said the fruits of Mr Wagle’s work would be released soon and would influence the advice to government and others on the challenges faced by youth today.
McCusker Centre for Citizenship director Michelle Scott said the idea of the internships was to place students frontline and working on social challenges.
In its inaugural and first semester round of internships the McCusker Centre placed 16 UWA students with key not-for-profit community organisations.
Next semester, internships on offer will jump from 16 to more than 70.