Literacy news
The Government is warned not to scrap basic skills support for young workers
10 Jul 2012
Steve Stewart, chief executive of the Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Partnership has warned that government plans to scrap employer's duty to ensure 16 and 17 year old employees in full-time work undertake training will mean that young people miss out on developing vital skills.
The warning comes in response to Education Secretary Michael Gove released a statement last week saying that while the Government is committed to raising the leaving age of young people in education or training, it would no longer force employers to enable 16 and 17 year old full-time workers to train towards an accredited qualification, from next July.
Stewart commented:
Every piece of evidence shows that the first people who get hurt in recessions are the unqualified. Young people who have few qualifications and who go in to a ‘dead end job’ are the first to suffer.
However a spokesperson from the Department of Education responded:
The responses to our consultation were very clear: placing duties on businesses - checking a young person has enrolled in training when they are appointed and agreeing working hours to enable them to access it - together with associated potential fines, could have deterred employers from hiring young people.
For the full story go to Children and Young People Now.
