Welfare Reform on the Web (April 2003): Education - UK - Training

EMPLOYERS TO BE SHOWN WAY OUT OF TRAINING QUAGMIRE

J Kelly

Financial Times, Feb.24^th 2003, p.2

Employers would be encouraged to invest more in training if offered a "one-stop-shop" for advice and information and a reduction in bureaucracy. Government is also planning to offer tax credits to encourage businesses to take training seriously.

LIFE THROUGH LEARNING; LEARNING THROUGH LIFE: THE LIFELONG LEARNING STRATEGY FOR SCOTLAND

Scottish Executive

Edinburgh: TSO, 2003

Scotland's first every lifelong learning strategy proposes:

• merging the Scottish Higher and Further Education Funding Councils;
• piloting Business Learning Accounts with small businesses, providing them with the tools to link training needs with business growth;
• committing £40m a year by 2006 to enabling young people in school to have experience of business enterprise;
• introducing education maintenance allowances to help young people stay on at school or college;
• introducing pre-apprenticeships to link with vocational learning in schools;
• establishing a lifelong learning forum.

WORK EXPERIENCE PUPILS SPEND TIME "SHOVING PAPER INTO TRASH CANS" SAYS STORE BOSS

S Cassidy

Independent, Feb.20^th 2003, p.7

The chief executive of W H Smith has warned that present work experience opportunities for school children are a waste of time. Calls for a move from present ad hoc programmes to an accredited scheme.

(See also Financial Times, Feb. 20^th 2003, p.2; Daily Telegraph, Feb. 20^th 2003, p.11; Times, Feb. 20^th 2003, p.2)

YOUNG MEN ON THE MARGINS: STRATEGIES FOR ENGAGEMENT

S Ruxton

WYM: Working with Young Men, vol. 2, 2003, p.11-16

Uses case studies of employment training and men's health promotion to show how services traditionally take a gender blind approach and are not designed to engage marginalised young men. Discusses how they can be adapted to be more appealing and to help men build positive identities for themselves, through the use of gender analysis.