Frank Williams never found his place at school. He felt like he couldn't keep up in class and grew so disconnected from education he dropped out before finishing year 10.
"School wasn't really my thing ... I didn't have any really good people or people that would give me advice about anything, so I was basically just lost," he said.
"I felt like none of the teachers at school really knew how to teach my way ... I felt like I was still stuck in year 8."
The 17-year-old Wiradjuri youth was struggling to find his place in life until he enrolled in the first cohort of the Certificate II in Skills for Vocational Pathways at the Canberra Institute of Technology while working at a social enterprise e-waste facility run by the Worldview Foundation.
The new course has introduced about 12 Indigenous youth to practical skills and life skills to re-engage them with learning and help them set career goals.
For four days per week, the young men work and learn on-the-job skills in Worldview's e-waste recycling warehouse in Fyshwick. On Friday they take classes at CIT in practical construction skills such as first aid, working at heights and scaffolding.
The 20-week course has been funded by the Australian government's foundation skills program.
Worldview Foundation program manager Phil James said the course was tailored to the students' learning styles to keep them engaged and spark their interest in education.
"It's understanding people's communication styles, what sort of language to use, how to approach people to get things to happen. And this is great for any young people to learn, but certainly for these guys who might not have gone all the way through school, it's perfect," he said.
Worldview started as a social enterprise about three years ago with ex-detainees, but has now switched its focus to 17- to 24-year-old Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth.
Mr James said it was a joy to see the participants grow and discover their skills and talents.
"Frank finishes his work quite quickly and early and then rather than just sitting around, he just jumps in and helps the other guy who might be struggling," he said.
"This is then showing you that he's got the skills to be an LSA or teacher. It's just extended that goal-setting for a career path and I guess it was pretty unexpected ... but it was a delight to watch."
Frank is now planning to finish year 11 and 12 with the aim of being a youth worker or helping Indigenous youth in some way.
"I did some things in the past I do regret, but I was a kid so I didn't really expect too much back then. I didn't really have any role models or any people around at the time, so it was just more about just learning for me," he said.
"I feel like if kids actually went into this type of course they would get more of an open-minded perspective on things and have more options this way, instead of being stuck."
