Girls encouraged to join cadet boom
A boom in the number of young people signing up for cadets in WA has been tempered by fewer girls joining.
Department of Local Government and Community figures show the overall number of children enrolled in cadet units jumped from 6235 in 2010 to 7742 last year. But female cadets now account for just 39 per cent of participants, down from 45 per cent.
Cadets WA program co-ordinator Geoff Hurren said gender balance was difficult to maintain with a voluntary program.
"I think you will find the higher proportion of boys joining defence force cadets may have something to do with those figures," he said. Mr Hurren said community-based cadet groups, such as the bush rangers and St John Ambulance cadets, attracted more female participants.
Run through the Department of Parks and Wildlife, bush rangers units have been the most consistently popular of the 10 available cadet groups, attracting more than a quarter of participants from 2010 to last year.
Emergency Services regularly attract more than 20 per cent, while army cadets proved the third most popular.
Rossmoyne Senior High School bush rangers Kathryn Landon, Barbara Badrov and Helena Tueger said girls who did not sign up were missing out.
