The objective of the 2nd Regional Conference on Tutoring and Mentoring were incorporated in the theme: 'Tutoring & Mentoring: Best Practice, Great Results' And the aim of the Conference programme was to encourage exchange of experience and best practice in a wide cross-section of circumstances. The conference was designed to be of particular interest to those in universities, schools, polytechnics, institutes of technology, youth organisations, government agencies, business and industry, and community organisations who are concerned to:

• help young people maintain commitment to education and training;
• assist young people's successful transition within the school system (lower to upper school); between school and further/higher education/traineeships and apprenticeships; from education to the workforce -- and within the workforce;
• help the transition of adults making a return to education or the workforce;
• improve retention rates in the first-year of further and higher education, and
• provide positive role-model support for people from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special needs.

To encompass that breadth in tutoring and mentoring presentations were invited on:

• cross-age, cross-institutional programmes involving students as tutors and mentors;
• tutoring and mentoring programmes within a single school or tertiary institution; * education/industry partnerships in mentoring;
• special needs projects -- eg for adults returning to study; * students with disabilities or undergoing long-term medical treatment;
• young people from ethnic/indigenous minorities;
• students at risk;
• the long-term unemployed; and
• mentoring in the workplace.