On the day of our conference where we spent our time looking at all of the good in the world of youth employment the BBC published an article about the impact of poor quality careers education.
The article (which you can read here) leads with this statement –
“Chaotic careers education in England’s schools could jeopardise the UK’s future economic prosperity, says education watchdog Ofsted. Lack of an “overarching government strategy” means a generation is leaving school unready for work, it argues. The UK’s post-Brexit success depends on harnessing “home-grown talent”, says chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw.”
Youth unemployment has many causes, poor quality careers support is certainly one of them. YEUK has consistently challenged the government policy on careers education, we know from the thousands of young people in our network that lack of careers inspiration and information is a real barrier to employment for many young people .
We have recently met with some of the Department for Education team working on the careers agenda and know that there is a focus right now on getting something meaningful in place.
The risk is the time it takes to deliver a national strategy and see it embedded so that every young person can benefit from it. Careers education has not really had a golden era and over the last 5 years it has been a regular topic for debate. Numerous reports have been done, including our own in 2015, and too many meetings and debates to count, yet to what end? The government has invested in the Careers and Enterprise Company and in the Work Coach programme, on top of that there are literally hundreds of initiatives around the UK trying to have a positive impact on this vital area.
Yet still young people across the UK are being failed by the lack of meaningful strategy. Every year another cohort leaves education and their chances of having experienced the help they need to progress into employment are low.
The good news? The solutions are out there, there is evidence from experts like the Careers Development Institute, Gatsby Foundation, Deidre Hughes, London Councils and importantly the young people involved in organisations like YEUK know exactly what they need and want. We have all put forward a plan of what good looks like. No wheels need to be reinvented. Now it is time for the government to take firm action, be clear in the expectations and ensure the funding is in the right place so that every child gets the support they need. Lets not have a need to write this same blog in 5 years time.
- If you are 16-24 and want to be a part of our work to improve youth employment become a Young Professional Member today
- If you are an organisation that supports young people find out about joining our community so you can help us influence policy and best practice
This video highlights the impact good careers education can have on our young people. Thanks to Education and Employers Charity for the work they do to help young people.
