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DateLine Sunday, 23 March 2008

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Youth take a year out of education

A ‘gap’ does not necessarily sound like a good thing, but each year more and more young people choose to take a break from the books between sixth form college and university or following graduation.

The most recent statistics show that there are around 230,000 young people taking a ‘gap year’ while just over seven percent of students choose to defer their place at university by a year in order to indulge in some time out from formal education.

Some young people avoid the void for fear that they will be travel-bug bitten and never return to education, while recent research shows that others are unable to spend earnings on travel, opting instead to save towards their degree course, alleviate the inevitable student debt or even start the increasingly tough climb up the property ladder.

For those that do take a gap year, the options are endless. From surf camps in Australia, to marine conservation in Borneo and building schools in rural Peru, the choice has never been so hard.

Gap year organisations cater to every interest, time scale and most budgets - the average UK gap year student will spend between $5,000 and $6,000 on volunteering or travel abroad.

With an increasing global market for gap year organisations, competition is driving prices down and the choice is no longer limited to the affluent middle classes and privately educated.

Most students spend the first half of their year working to earn money. Jobs vary from catering and hospitality to administrative and factory work.

Spending six months in a monotonous job which is only a means to an end - the end being enough to fund the beginning of travels - certainly increases the enjoyment of such freedom for the more exciting second half!

Once the student has sufficient funds, the spending is usually not so difficult - most choose to organise their trip through tour groups and projects, while others will set off with only a budget as their guide.

A significant proportion of travellers get involved in voluntary projects that give something back to the local community of their chosen destination. Many people feel that this enables them to engage with a new culture, rather than merely spectating or passing through a country.

It is true that one doesn’t need to travel the globe to find causes in need of voluntary labour, but it seems that experiences in unfamiliar parts of the world can be all the more eye-opening for the young, inquisitive mind.

There is no doubt that the increasing affordability of travel, particularly flying, has popularised the gap year, and advances in communication mean that family and friends no longer feel so far away.

There is also reason to suggest that students think a year for character building and personal development will give university applications and CVs the cutting edge.

Others veer away from the pressures of academia, never to return to a conventional career and lifestyle, and instead find fulfilment in vocational work overseas demanding more people, skills and less bureaucracy.

It is not just young people that are saving pennies to see the world. The 200,000 retired people travelling from the UK rivals the number of young people opting for a ‘year out’, while the middle-aged ‘career breakers’ contribute another 90,000 to the records.

The British are renowned explorers so perhaps the growing trend should come as no surprise, or perhaps there is an intensifying desire to break from the norm.

People are afraid of being another product of the institutional conveyor belt.

Breaking personal boundaries allows one to refresh one’s perspective of what is important and shape the bridge into the next phase of life.

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