Stephen's Views on Further and Higher Education
As Shadow Secretary of State for Universities, Skills and Innovation, I have been making sure that education and employment opportunities for young people are provided, and in these troubled economic times it has never been more important to acquire new skills and qualifications. In March 2009 I was pleased to attend the opening of the new City of Bristol sixth form academy at College Green. The college has a major role to play in encouraging young people in Bristol to study after the age of 16. The academy will prepare young people for work and help more of them to go on to higher education.
In 2009, in England, there has been a marked increase in applications to study at universities. There is obviously a developing pattern of young people choosing-rightly, perhaps-to go into higher education in order to shelter from the recession. In 2008 the Secretary of State promised 15,000 extra places for higher education. Then that pledge was cut back to an extra 10,000 places, despite the fact that the Government raided £100 million from the equivalent or lower qualifications budget, supposedly to fund new opportunities for first-time study. I would like to see an assurance that all the young people who achieve their entry offers will have their places funded by the Government.
For those who have graduated, the only initiative that we have heard about from the Government was on the proposed interns programme. All it seems to amount to is that if a graduate has been unemployed for six months, they can continue to receive their jobseeker's allowance without any deduction, if they enter an internship scheme. Graduates will have to wait six months before they can continue to receive their jobseeker's allowance while on an internship, and the young and unemployed will have to wait 12 months before they can get a training package-and it is not immediately clear what that will comprise. This is a paltry response to a dire situation faced by some of the best educated people in our country.
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