An interesting article from the BBC, reporting that local Councils are to be scored on how well they tackle the drop out rate from school and college.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-33675200
I doubt there are many people who would say that youth engagement is not critically important, and needs monitoring, but I have a fear that, in some instances, this scoring activity could become more of the focus than the need to engage and inspire disengaged young people with fresh ideas about work-readiness and employability. I think we’ve all seen such ‘unintended consequences’ before (please refer back to the education select committee meeting minutes January 7th 2015, if not!)
Any previous readers of this blog will know our dislike of “process” activities (by which we mean activities that dwell on the “process” of leaving education and the transition into employment). The employability challenge isn’t only about measuring how quickly young people move from education into employment, it should also be about how well they can assimilate into employment, and thrive once they arrive.
Please can we also suggest the idea of measuring innovation in the management of NEETs. Better still, let’s do this innovation before they get anywhere near the NEET age bracket.
For any councils who want to embed innovative solutions to the great NEET employability challenge, please email us at seminars@bizenko.com
