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This section focuses on approaches to improving the literacy skills of young people who are not in contact with the formal education system, including the involvement of the youth service. Approaches related to schools can be found in the primary and secondary school sections.
Background
Useful links and organisations
Key issues
Having poor literacy skills means young people cannot fully access the
challenges of the school curriculum and are therefore more likely to
underachieve. They may have the potential to achieve but have fallen behind for
a variety of reasons - poor health, disruptive education, problems at home, poor
teaching or perhaps difficulties because English is not their first language. If
they are not able to catch up through additional school interventions or have
parents who don't know how to help, young people can become passive and
disinterested in learning; they can play up at school, or they simply stay away.
There is some evidence that those who truant or stay out of school are more at
risk of getting into trouble and committing crimes.
Statistics show that in 2004, there were 649,000 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK who were economically inactive and not in full-time education, and a further 405,000 unemployed. There are also an estimated 10,000 15-year-olds who are 'missing' from school in England and are not accounted for anywhere in the system. Each year more than five per cent of 15-year-olds leave school without any qualifications. (Prince's Trust, Reaching the Hardest to Reach, 2004 and Breaking barriers? Reaching the hardest to reach, 2003.)
Of course, having poor literacy is not the only reason why young people stay away from school, misbehave and underachieve, but it can be a contributory factor. In any case, if they miss a large part of their schooling, they will not get the qualifications they need to succeed. Finding ways to motivate young people and improve their literacy skills is vital.
The last ten years has seen a sea change in the youth service's recognition
that literacy is its concern. Central to this change of view was the partnership
developed between the Youth
Service and the library service, as part of a National Year of Reading-funded project in 1998-1999. This partnership began when the National
Youth Agency teamed up with the library development agency Well Worth
Reading (now The Reading Agency) to bring together youth workers and library workers on a range of ground-breaking initiatives with hard-to-reach
young people. Projects took place in settings as diverse
as youth clubs and homes for children in care, and made imaginative use
of libraries. Boox for Us, as the initiative was called, was a great success. Conference
showcases helped to spread the ideas and lessons learned throughout the youth service nationwide and, as
a consequence, training in both sectors increased staff
awareness of the issues involved.
Following this success, the programme was developed with
funding from Arts Council England's New Audiences scheme. An action research programme, YouthBoox, explored which reading 'hooks' work
most powerfully with young people aged 13-18. Nine local
projects - in Liverpool, Sunderland, Norfolk, Oswestry,
Coventry, Gloucestershire, East Sussex, Kensington and Essex - linked reading with computers, live literature and other art
forms to encourage young people to share reading experiences and record
their own lives as readers.
Lessons from both projects were captured in three resource packs, The
Reading Kit, which pass on the projects' findings
on creating and maintaining partnerships. They illustrate the different
approaches and activities that can be used for reader development and
show how to structure young people's greater involvement in reading. For more information on YouthBoox visit www.readingagency.org.uk.
Young people in deprived areas are to be paid to do community work in
a government pilot to boost volunteering and civic renewal. The Young
Volunteer Challenge is designed to encourage disadvantaged teenagers to
spend a gap year doing community work before starting work, training or
university. The £5 million Department for Education and Skills initiative
will be piloted for two years in ten areas across the country, beginning
in May 2003.
The DfES hopes that 1,200 18 and 19-year-olds will decide to sign up to
the scheme. To be eligible, applicants must have received a maintenance
grant to help them continue their studies after the age of 16, or have
claimed income support while undergoing vocational training. The chosen
participants will work full time - defined as more than 30 hours a week
- for nine months, earning £45 a week, with a completion award of
£750 following the placement.
Ivan Lewis, minister for young people and adult skills, launched a prospectus
in March 2003, aimed at persuading voluntary organisations to participate
in the scheme. He said: "Getting the volunteering habit early encourages
lifelong volunteering, and broadens young people's horizons, helping to
develop the skills and qualities which universities and employers value."
The prospectus, The Young Volunteer Challenge, can be viewed at
www.dfes.gov.uk/youngpeople.
(Regeneration and Renewal, 7 March 2003)
Youth charities can bid for a share of a £34 million cash pot
set up by the New Opportunities Fund for ambitious new projects. The Uproject
is aimed at 16-year-old school leavers who do not have a job or place
within further education. In summer 2002, 16,000 teenagers attended residential
week-long courses all over the country, participating in a range of activities
from white-water rafting and DJ-ing to motor maintenance and designing
CVs.
Charities can apply to be lead agencies, running the activities, or
to support the project through residential accommodation or expertise.
Around 100 voluntary agencies are already signed up including Weston Spirit,
the Trident Trust and Liverpool Hope.
The Department for Education and Skills multi-million pound project
is run through local Connexions partnerships, which will cover 47 areas
throughout England by 2003. Barclays bank has given the project £600,000
in sponsorship and provided a brand, website and merchandise for the participants.
(Third Sector, 24 July 2002)
The Prince's Trust aims to raise "tens of millions" in funding in autumn
2002 to expand a pilot project teaching literacy and numeracy skills to
young people. The trust is currently undertaking a £5 million pilot
project, funded by the Learning and Skills Council, to help young people,
including the long-term unemployed and offenders, find jobs. The pilot
is based on the Prince's Trust existing young people volunteers' programme
which has been running for 16 years, but places more emphasis on writing
and maths skills.
The pilot will be evaluated in the autumn and a decision will be made
whether to roll it out across the country later in the year. A spokeswoman
for the charity said that if the pilot did go national, it would form
part of a general revamp of the trust's volunteer programme. "We are looking
for funding in the tens of millions from the Skills Council and our corporate
sponsors," the spokeswoman said.
(Third Sector, 26 June 2002)
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