Education leaving age to top agenda Queen's Speech
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Employers need to put their money where their mouths are and provide quality training opportunities for young people if a bill to raise the effective education leaving age to 18 is to prove successful, unions have said.
The bill, aimed at cutting down the number of young people not in education, employment and training over the age of 16 was a key part of yesterday's Queen's Speech.
Young people who do not comply will face fines or community service when the legal requirement to stay on in education or training comes into force in 2013.
Chris Keates, general secretary of teachers' union NASUWT, said: "Many employers have seen their role as merely to carp about and criticise standards of education."
She said the entire bill would stand or fail on whether or not employers provided the amount of good training opportunities that are needed.
Children's Secretary Ed Balls said the Queen's Speech would "put the concerns of families in every part of our country first".
Balls has also pledged to extend educational maintenance grants to all courses offered by local authorities, including work with charities.