ABS Shows Foreign Workers Have More Qualified In Education And Training

02 Dec 2013

New figures of ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) on education and training show that foreign born people are more likely to have a certificate or degree than people born in Australia.

The survey on Education and Training Statistics revealed that while overall fulfillment rates have gone up, the proportion of foreign born people who had a non-school qualification (either a certificate or a degree) was 63%, compared with 55% for those born in Australia.

Myles Burleigh, Director of Education and Training Statistics at ABS said that overall, 25% of people had a Bachelor degree or above, which is up from 17% in 2001. Coming to the percentage of men and women in these statistics, 22% of men and 27% of women have a Bachelor degree.

The survey also showed that in May 2013, there were 1.2 million people aged between 15 and 64 years who had completed either a degree or a certificate in which they were enrolled in 2012.

While 6.6% of these were unemployed, more than 81% were employed in May 2013.

Employment rate for people aged between 25 and 44 was 82% and for people aged between 45 and 64 was 85%.

The ABS survey established that enrolled in a course of study were nearly 3 million Australians aged between 15 and 64.

Burleigh said that out of these, more than half are female, and foreign born students make up around a quarter of people studying.

He said the survey revealed 25% people are working full time while 58% of students were working while studying.

He added that since 2001, the proportion of people studying IT (Information Technology) has decreased, while Commerce and Management continue to be the most popular field of study.

59% of the people who left school in the last year were enrolled in further study.