Young People and the recession

In new studies recently released it says that young people are the most optimistic about this country getting itself out of recession than any other demographic but they are being the worst hit by job losses and the lack of jobs going around with a high percentage now out of work and/or claiming Job Seekers Allowance. Some over 16’s have now been out of work for some years and some are yet to be able to find their first job.

Some peoples answer to this is to stay in education with applications for Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses going up. These young applicants are obviously hoping if they stay in education long enough the recession will be over by the time they finish their course but if it isn’t then they will have increased debt to deal with and still very limited job prospects.

I think the government need to step in and do a lot more for young people during this period as the more dissatisfied young people with no money and time on their hands we have it could lead to an increased level in youth crime. If we try and look at it positively with so many young people out of work we have so many man hours available to this country which we need to utilize by getting these young people doing something active and positive which helps this country and helps them get back in to work and to build up experience. If we were to do this we would also lessen the chance for youth crime in the young unemployed group.

With more young people out of work more people are claiming benefits which is more government money being spent. Now this money needs to be spent and unemployed people need it but the government need to invest in getting young people back in to work so they don’t need to claim benefits and save this country money in the long term. As the more people claiming money out of the government and not contributing to the economy the longer it is going to take to get out of this recession.

If the research is true and the young unemployed group are the most positive and optimistic about getting out of recession then we need to harness this positivism. Lets repay their positivism and help keep them positive by helping them as we are going to need this energy to help us get out of this recession.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Become a Teacher in Six Months

This week I wanted to talk about news in the UK educational world which has caused a stir. The government have unveiled plans to change the time it takes to complete a teaching qualification to six months from a year which the course currently takes.

This has been seen as many as way to cash in on the current quality of applicants on the job market who may have fallen out of high power jobs due to the credit crunch and to make teaching more appealing to them. For some time the government has been advertising hard trying to get more people in to teaching and has offered many financial incentives but this could be their most newsworthy step to date.

With stories of schools becoming more unruly places and with many people complaining about the lack of respect some pupils have for teachers is six months training going to be enough time for people to learn the skills needed for the modern classroom?

Is this approach going to see quantity over quality? Are the government just trying to get more people in to teaching regardless of their training and suitability? Is this move going to affect the standard of teaching young people receive in our schools? These are just a handful of the questions that myself and other people across the country are asking this week.

Do we want a teaching pool filled with ex-bankers? I think personally that this country needs a diverse range of teachers from different backgrounds if we are truly going to give these young people the best education we can. Getting ex-bankers back in to work and to help create more teachers is a short term fix to some of the problems this country has but long term what problems is it going to cause for the young people in school today when they graduate? Are they going to have the education they need in order to contribute in the best way they can to our economy?

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Career Advice!

The BBC news website reported two news stories on the subject of career advice and chosen careers which got me thinking:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7323033.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7318919.stm

Now I can’t say I am shocked by these findings as I have thought this for some time and it’s quite funny how these stories which are so related came out in the same week. I believe that career advice has been inadequate for some time and big changes need to be made if we are going to get young people in to the right careers and get unemployment levels down.

The education system seems to have a one size fits all approach with students forced to become jack of all trades and master of none in a race to look good in the school league tables. The only thing schools get graded on are exam grades and not what careers their students go in to so the only thing they are interested in is there results. Until schools get graded or rewarded based on what careers their students go in to they aren’t going to invest time in proper career advice and nor should they have to if they aren’t getting the right reward for it.

Employers are looking for young people who are highly skilled and educated in specific areas not people who are moderately skilled in many areas. Young people aren’t informed about this at school though or told enough about what qualifications you need for certain jobs. This is the information young people need to be equipped with to get ahead in the market place but the school system keeps them in the dark with the blinkers on in order to make sure they try their best at all subjects so they can get highest league table place possible. If young people were armed with this information they probably wouldn’t try as hard at the subjects they didn’t need but improve vastly in the areas that were linked to their career choice.

Yes young people need to be able to be flexible and adapt in this ever changing world so need as many skills as possible but they also need to have strong skills in the areas they want to work in. The other information young people need is to be told how much certain jobs pay and how accessible these jobs are in the local area as it may be a young person is investing time getting ready for an occupation which may not pay enough to support them or may not be available locally. Young people need to be made more aware of the work place and schools need to devote time to career studies on a regular basis. Every pupil at school should have to go to career advice mandatory and career advice shouldn’t be something that is optional and hidden away.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com