Our friends at ‘Rethinking Education, Economy and Society’ continue their vital monitoring.
‘According to surveys, most employers report that they are generally happy with the skills of school and college leavers and that the majority are ‘ready for work’ (www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-employment-in-an-international-context). The problem is that so few seek to recruit them.’
New Government figures (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/lowest-rate-of-young-people-neet-for-20-years) show the number of 16-18 year old NEETS at the lowest level for 20 years with a drop of a fifth over the last year. 81% of the age group were in education or work based training at the end of 2013 (70% in full-time school or college). The reduction in NEETS coincides with the raising of the ‘participation rate’ rather than reflecting an increase in the number working –ONS statistics for Feb to April 2014 showed only 85 000 of the quarter of a million 16 and 17 year olds who have left full-time education have found work. Apprenticeship participation also continues to be very low,– figures (https://radicaledbks.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/apprenticeships2.pdf) showing only 71 000 starts by those under 19 and less than 6% of 16-18 year olds in ‘work-based’ learning. In fact , even before the raising of the participation age, as the…
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IN DEFENCE OF YOUTH WORK 