CYP Now - Youth workers have key role in reforming secondary education, peer says

A shift away from the current secondary school education system to a “more well-rounded” curriculum designed to equip children for the modern world would require input from “the entire children’s workforce”, with a particular focus on youth workers, a peer has said.

Lord Jim Knight is a member of the Lords' Education for 11-16 Year Olds Committee. Picture: Lord Jim Knight

A major report from the Lords Education for 11-16 Year Olds Committee proposes a move away from exam-based schooling to one which meets the needs of a future digital and green economy.

Recommendations from the cross-party report are designed to reform the secondary curriculum and assessment model, “to create more space for technical, digital and creative areas of study, and reduce the burden of GCSE exams”.

Peers suggest providing more opportunities at key stages 3 and 4 to study creative, cultural, vocational and technical subjects to increase non-academic pathways for study or employment post-16.

The report also recommends developing and introducing a basic digital literacy qualification and a new GCSE in applied computing and giving pupils the option to take functional literacy and numeracy qualifications at key stage 4 which differ from, but are equal in value to, GCSE English and maths.

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