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Early school leaving is one of the most protracted educational problems around the world, but one of the least understood. Central to the issue itself, is the failure by the educational policy community to have ways of adequately 'naming' the problem. The study reported in this paper examines early school leaving from the position of 209 young Australians who had left school or who were at imminent risk of doing so. While acknowledging the considerable complexity of the decision making processes that lie behind this problem, this article provides a tentative theorising that traverses aspects of what we call the 'cultural geography of the high school' as a partial explanation of what is occurring. The question being pursued was how the culture of the school contributed to or interfered with early school leaving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses high school dropouts in Australia, focusing on the number of them who return after. Factors that influence students to leave school before their time; Types of students who return; Factors that influence their return; Statistics on the number of children who leave and return.

Reports that Australia's Youth Training Initiative has been launched on January 1, 1995. Financial assistance provided to young people aged 15-17 years-old who have left school.

Elaborates on the finding that early school leavers had almost four times less chance of finding a job than those who complete Year 12, as reported in the December 30, 1992 issue of `Australian.' Unemployment rates.