National Citizen Service 'must target older teenagers too'
Neil Puffett
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The government's flagship youth work programme, the National Citizen Service, must be widened to 17- and 18-year-olds in the future if it is to be successful, it has been claimed.
Around 11,000 16-year-olds will take part in scheme this summer as part of 12 pilot projects. Next year the project will be expanded to cover around 30,000 16-year-olds.
Speaking at Haymarket Media’s Big Society conference, Craig Morley, chief executive of the Challenge Network, a charity heading one of the 12 pilot projects, acknowledged obstacles to the scheme’s success.
He said it must be flexible to allow young people a subsequent chance to take part if they are not keen on it initially.
"Many young people will not be ready when they are 16 and could miss out for the rest of their lives," he said. "If they hear from their mates about it they would be able to go back to it the following year."
He added that there must not be a rush for growth in the scheme, as expanding it too quickly to all of the estimated 600,000 16-year-olds in England could endanger it. "Quality must be paramount," he said.
