In the last decade the proportion of young people receiving formal education or training beyond 16 in
See
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4223939.stm
http://education.independent.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=615190
Because of this, the Government has been trying various schemes to encourage young people to stay in education. This includes:
Education Maintenance Allowance: All 16 year olds with a family income of less than £30,000 a year will qualify for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) from September. This means that they could receive between £10 and £30 a week to stay in further education until they are 19.
Those who do especially well will even get £100 bonuses. All the money will be paid direct from central government into students' bank accounts, rather than via local authorities.
However, those students who miss classes will forfeit their right to a grant.
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3638739.stm
Offering Prizes: In
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/4209143.stm
Vocational Studies: The government is also trying another quite different strategy, to engage more youngsters in their learning with vocational studies.
This is the "increased flexibility programme”, providing those aged 14 to 16 with more work-based learning opportunities.
An evaluation of the second year of this, undertaken last spring, found the 40,000 or so pupils involved had access to a broader curriculum and were on target to achieve vocational qualifications - though the work was done before they had their results.
More than half said their course had helped them clarify their future plans, with 82% intending to continue in education or training - exceeding the 75% target.
Students' social skills and ability to work with adults appeared to have improved.
Although they were still sometimes bored with lessons, they were better behaved and liked going to school more than they had a year earlier.
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4223939.stm
New Diploma proposed
Another solution proposed last October to encourage young people to stay in secondary education called for the biggest shake-up of secondary schooling in
Former chief inspector, Mike Tomlinson published a report recommending that GCSEs and A-levels should evolve over the next decade into a new diploma system.
Under the Tomlinson plans, there would be fewer exams but, at advanced level, tougher questions.
There would be clearer routes for those wanting more specialised, work-related learning within the diploma.
And everyone would have to have the "core" communication and numeracy skills businesses say people often lack.
At intermediate level, roughly equivalent to the current GCSEs, the Tomlinson ideas are likely to involve a far greater reliance on internal assessment by teachers.
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3750886.stm
Governments Education Reform - GCSE and A-levels stay:
However the government refused to replace the existing GCSE and A-level exam system with a new diploma.
"You don't improve a system by getting rid of what's good," Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Education, told the Sunday Telegraph.
She said the qualifications were recognised by employers, parents and teachers.
"I want to improve what we've got, not replace it."
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4278043.stm
Ms Kelly insisted her package - which included plans for 14 separate specialist vocational diplomas to sit alongside A-levels - would end the "intellectual snobbery" over vocational exams.
Increased Pressure to stay to 18:
Her proposals will also introduce a new education leaving age of 18 instead of 16 - as all young people will be promised either apprenticeships or college-based courses if they do not stay on into the school sixth-form.
(http://education.independent.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=613779)
Only 71 per cent of 16-year-olds stay on in full-time education, putting
The Main Points of New Education Package
* A-levels and GCSEs retained. A-levels to stretch some pupils by including questions of first-year university standard.
* 4,000-word, extended essay piloted to develop A-level pupils' thinking skills.
* Coursework reduced amid allegations that pupils have cheated by getting their parents to do it or by cribbing from internet.
* 14 specialist vocational diplomas set up to run alongside A-levels. First four - in engineering, IT, health and social care, and creative and media studies - to be running by 2008.
* No overarching diploma as suggested by Tomlinson - decision for review in 2008.
* Target of 90 per cent of all 17-year-olds staying on in education, training or appren-ticeships by end of decade - up from 75 per cent.
* New GCSE diploma awarded to all with five A* to C grade passes - must include English and maths.
* Percentage of pupils with this diploma recorded in school league tables.
* No pupil to get C grade in maths or English without showing they have mastered literacy and numeracy.
* Skills academies set up to specialise in vocational education from age 14.
Opposition to new scheme
Teachers' leaders, independent schools heads, academics, universities and school inspectors queued up to condemn Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Education, for missing "a golden opportunity" to reform an archaic examination system.
Sir Mike Tomlinson, the former chief schools inspector who headed the inquiry that produced the recommendation, admitted he was disappointed by the decision. He said it risked "emphasising the distinction between the vocational and the academic".
David Bell, the head of Ofsted - the education standards watchdog - and the chief inspector of schools, said: "Continuing with the current GCSE and A-level structure carries the risk of continuing the historic divide between academic and vocational courses which has ill-served too many young people in the past."
Some critics, however, were pinning their faith in an announcement by Ms Kelly that the Government would review the position in 2008 - a pledge said to have been wrung from
See http://education.independent.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=614176
For information on if you are eligible for the EMA scheme see the government website below:-
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/financialhelp/ema/index.cfm?SectionID=1
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