Educating Young People for Life after School.

Feb. 3, 2010 - PRLog -- This Prospects/Gabbitas Seminar brings together senior figures from business, government and education to participate in discussions exploring the causes of youth unemployment and how this major challenge can be tackled.

The leading speakers are Professor Colin Riordan, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex, James Reed, Chairman of the Reed Global group of companies, and David Willetts MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Universities and Skills, with responsibility for social mobility and families.

As in previous recessions, young people entering the labour market are experiencing the most difficulties in finding jobs.  This time particularly, very large numbers of graduates and others with higher level qualifications are failing in this depressed job market.  With nearly a million young jobless, a figure which has risen by over 400,000 since the year 2000, the situation is increasingly alarming. The latest Labour Force Survey is showing that for England as a whole, nearly 18% of 16 to 24 year olds, are not in education, employment or training and the need for  immediate improvement has never been greater.  This linked with constraints on public funding and the need to develop vocational and essential basic skills training to equip young people for the job markets of the future, post recession will form some of the underlying themes of this seminar.

This seminar hosted by Ray Auvray, Executive Chairman of Prospects Services Ltd and Rosemary Brown OBE, Non executive Chairman of Gabbitas Educational Consultants Ltd, will look at what is needed and how to deliver a brighter future for young people.
Ray Auvray commented;
“Breaking the “culture of unemployment” that exists in some communities must be the objective.  That will only be achieved if there is challenging ongoing personal support for the individual job seeker, a programme of training focused on the individual’s needs and career objectives, assistance in resolving the non-work issues that act as barriers to entering or re-entering  employment, alongside financial incentives and action on benefits, if necessary.”

Speakers will also consider the tensions between providing a rigorous academic education and fulfilling the economic needs of society. Professor Colin Riordan commented;
“In a time of increasingly constrained public funding and new demands on universities to articulate the benefits of higher education both for students and for society more widely, higher education institutions are using new forms of teaching and learning, informed by research, to fulfill 21st-century requirements.”

James Reed, as Chairman of one of the UK’s largest recruitment organisations has a unique perspective on the how education should support the transition into employment, and commented;
"For many the transition from education to employment feels more like a frayed rope than a bridge.  Employers tell us that new recruits must have the "Right Mindset", but how and where can young people learn this?  Much of our educational effort is pointing in the wrong direction.  This needs to change."

The event will be rounded off with a keynote speech from David Willetts MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Universities and Skills.
“A key priority for the next Conservative Government will be tackling youth unemployment - over a million young people are not in education, employment or training. That is why we are committed to providing extra university places, more apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship training and much improved careers advice.”  He commented before today’s seminar.

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