Senior youth work lecturers were this week due to meet with heads of youth services to hammer out the future of youth work training and qualifications.
The Confederation of Heads of Young People's Services (Chyps) is holding the meeting with TAG, the Professional Association for Lecturers in Youth and Community Work. "We are having a seminar about youth work training now and in the future," says Chyps chief executive David Wright. "The traditional structures around youth work training are breaking down."
In the past few years, a number of youth work courses have closed, leading to concerns that youth work qualifications are becoming increasingly marginalised. The University of East London (UEL), for example, is shutting its two youth work undergraduate degrees, although it will retain its postgraduate youth work courses. However, data from the National Youth Agency (NYA) shows that last year there was actually a slight increase in the number of validated undergraduate degrees in youth and community work, bringing the number up to 36. The number of postgraduate programmes has remained static at 21. Fiona Blacke, chief executive of the National Youth Agency, says: "In recent years, there has been a lot of anxiety from the youth work sector, but our figures indicate the sector is evolving, rather than simply shrinking."
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