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Education and training until 18 must be voluntary and backed by resources

22 March 2007

UCU has responded to the Green Paper 'Raising Expectations: staying in education and training post-16' presented to the House of Commons today by Education Minister Alan Johnson.

UCU gave the paper a cautious welcome but warned against the use of compulsion rather than incentives to encourage young people to pursue education and training after 16. The union said sufficient resources would be needed to achieve this goal and also called for the use of equality impact assessments to ensure that new opportunities would be provided fairly.  

Paul Mackney, joint general secretary of UCU, said: 'College lecturers will applaud the principle of extending the right to education and training beyond the age of 16 but there are many questions about how this is to be funded and implemented. It will need resources and the right curriculum to be workable and it is not clear from the budget statement where the funds for this will come from.

'We must make learning attractive to young people, especially those who have dropped out of education at some point but also if we want more students to progress to higher education. The government should provide incentives like Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs), which are more likely than sanctions to encourage further study. It should definitely not go down a punitive routes that could criminalise and stigmatise young people.

'16-19 year olds should not be prevented from working but must be able to have day release to study. Many employers obstruct this legal right and should be fined if they do so - currently release for studies is only enforceable through employment tribunals.'
Last updated: 14 December 2015

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