Though I realize it's the "it" PHP framework of the moment, if you're going to include Laravel, it probably makes sense to include Symfony, as Laravel is built entirely on top of Symfony components.
In fact, if the beginner in question aims to be employable, I'd include Zend, Joomla!, Drupal, and WordPress (I know it's terrible) before Laravel. Laravel is fun, and a nice breath of fresh air for experienced PHP devs, but certainly not the most practical PHP framework to start with.
Though I realize it's the "it" PHP framework of the moment, if you're going to include Laravel, it probably makes sense to include Symfony, as Laravel is built entirely on top of Symfony components.
In fact, if the beginner in question aims to be employable, I'd include Zend, Joomla!, Drupal, and WordPress (I know it's terrible) before Laravel. Laravel is fun, and a nice breath of fresh air for experienced PHP devs, but certainly not the most practical PHP framework to start with.