Daily roundup: Profit-making schools, help to stop smoking, and preparing young people for work

Private companies could be drafted in to run state schools for profit, under plans being considered by the Conservatives. An exclusive in The Independent has revealed the proposal to allow profit-making companies to set up free schools. The plan has been vetoed by the Liberal Democrats but is expected to appear in the 2015 Conservative election manifesto. Details of the idea will be outlined in a book to be published next week by Conservative pressure group Bright Blue, who argue the plans would reinvigorate the free schools project.

A stop smoking service that targets young people aged between 11 and 25 is to be launched in Wales today, according to ITV. The charity Action on Smoking and Health has launched the service because they believe that around 14,000 young people from the age of 11 try smoking in Wales each year. The Filter, established with the help of funding from the Big Lottery Fund, is the first service of its kind in Wales. It will provide online support, tobacco education, a ‘quit’ phone line and training for professionals who work with young people.

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced plans for a new traineeship programme designed to help get young people into work. The scheme is designed to equip young people with the necessary skills to compete for apprenticeship and job places. It follows an education and skills survey that showed the large majority of employers believe school-leavers lack the necessary literacy and self-management skills to succeed in the workplace. The six-month programme will offer CV writing and interview skills, work experience and GCSE-level English and Maths.

A survey by the British Psychological Society (BPS) has revealed how imaginary friends could benefit children. The study is based on 265 questionnaires collected from parents and will be presented at the BPS’s educational and child psychology conference in Bristol today. It shows that parents view imaginary friends as beneficial to fantasy play, aiding imagination. It also says imaginary friends allow children to “test out” bad behaviour on their parents, helping them to regulate their own actions.

The government’s £1,500 apprenticeship grant for employers, designed to encourage small and medium sized businesses to take on young apprentices aged between 16 and 24, has been extended until March 2014. It is hoped it will lead to even more businesses taking on apprentices. The move coincides with the launch of a national radio advertising campaign that promotes the availability of the grant and highlights the benefits of apprentices to employers.

The financial crisis has forced 150,000 more mothers of children under five to return to work, the Daily Mail reports. The figures, compiled by the Office for National Statistics, show a significant increase in mothers of young children in full-time employment since the start of the credit crunch in 2007. It is thought they are forced back into work by the rising cost of living and the increased chances of their partners being made redundant.