Member News
18th August 2010
Ahead of A-level results, the NASUWT writes for ePolitix.com about the quality of opportunity for young people in the UK.
In the last week we have received a number of stark forecasts from sources such as the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, the Bank of England, the TUC and others on the gloomy prospects for economic recovery. With youth unemployment now standing at around 1.7 million, the prospects for today's generation of school and college leavers does not appear to be good.
There is little doubt that the publication this week of A-level examination results will, once again, reflect positively on the hard work, dedication and achievements of young people. No doubt there will be those usual suspects who will seek to diminish these achievements as they claim that standards are no longer what they once were. Indeed, they're not. Today's qualifications are much tougher and teaching is also much better. With more young people achieving the highest grades, universities and employers have struggled to differentiate between the very best, and a cadre of "super" grades has had to be created.
But, in all the nonsense about dumbing down, the main challenge for the system today is not about the quality of teaching inputs or qualification outputs, but the quality of opportunities and outcomes available for young people. Regrettably, the harsh reality for many is that there will be fewer opportunities available to find a job, apprenticeship or training place, or a place at university.
This situation is unlikely to be helped by the austerity measures being pushed through by the coalition government. It has been calculated that £1.5 billion has been cut from further and higher education budgets, and this year alone around 200,000 applicants will miss out on university places. In advance of the release of the A-level results, many universities have reported that they are already full with no spare places left for clearing. This is going to lead to huge disappointment and frustration. But why has this situation come about in the first place?
Since the coalition government took office on May 12 local authorities, schools, colleges and universities have endured a rampant programme of cuts, with more still to come. The £6.2 billion cuts announced by the Chancellor and the chief secretary to the treasury in May this year have all to be delivered within the next six months. The government claimed initially that these cuts would be made to "non-front line public services", but it is already the case that the cuts are biting hard and deep at the chalk face and in terms of reduced prospects for today's 16-25 year olds.
Cuts to youth and community provision, the scaling back of financial assistance to fund post-16 participation, cuts to Connexions and student support, cuts to Diploma programmes, cuts to funding for universities and colleges, and the scrapping of the £1.2 billion Future Jobs Fund and the Young Person's Guarantee – all these cuts mean there are now fewer opportunities available for young people who are due to complete their formal education this year and next.
And that isn't just a trade union view. The CIPD, the Prince's Trust and other widely respected bodies have also reported on the bleak future that lies ahead for many school and college leavers as a consequence of the coalition government's cuts programme. But there is an alternative.
Parents and teachers believe that what the country needs is investment in jobs, not austerity. We cannot afford to see another lost generation of young people consigned to the unemployment scrapheap, and we must never again accept the rhetoric of those who seek to claim this as a price worth paying.
The NASUWT also believes that the coalition government's cuts are bad for young people, bad for education and bad for economic recovery. These cuts are taking place in stark contrast to investment in education and training in other countries around the world – in the USA, India, China and other EU economies. What is desperately needed in the UK is a long term strategy to build a stronger skills base and not a short term approach to deficit reduction.
Youth unemployment is on the increase and by some pretty alarming rates. The youth unemployment rate now stands at 17 per cent - double the national average. And, even those young people with the highest qualifications - currently shouldering a high debt burden after graduating from university - are also facing tough times ahead as they seek to convert their new qualifications into a paid job. So there can be little argument, surely, against specific investment in programmes to upskill today's 16-25 year olds and to help more of them into paid work.
More apprenticeship places are needed, a view shared by the coalition government. However, massive cuts to public spending are choking off high quality apprenticeships opportunities, as fewer employers are able to commit the resources needed. The recent announcement to cut over 700 Building Schools for the Future (BSF) school rebuilding projects was a case in point - for many young people interested in a career in the construction industry, the opportunity disappeared with the axing of the BSF programme.
The excitement and eager anticipation that should be felt on the eve of the publication of this week's A-level results will almost certainly be tinged with a high degree of anxiety for the future.
Young people have worked extremely hard to gain the qualifications and skills they need to access jobs and university places, but may now find these opportunities have been cruelly snatched away from them. Against any measure, today's school and college leavers are achieving the best results of any generation. However, the achievements and talents of thousands of young people are at risk of being squandered and wasted needlessly.
Without action to create more employment, training and education opportunities for young people, it will become harder and harder to persuade future bright eyed 15 and 16 year olds to continue to participate in education and training – and increasingly difficult for teachers to motivate those who do.
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