As a teacher of NEET learners, my area of research looked at whether or not an extended induction programme could have a positive effect on retention, attendance and learner cohesion.
Sunday 1 March 2009
A Good Childhood
Very interesting report by UNICEF - link attached. Could this be why we have so many disengaged teenagers today.
I have found another site that you might be interested in re NEETS - this is the link for the Japan Times, it is an English newspaper in Japan, and it has some reports about how the government and other agencies are trying to involve these young people, it's long as it's actually the search page for NEETS:
Sarah, this is the article I was telling you about in the Daily Mail yesterday:
Labour's lost generation: 1 in 10 teenagers is now a Neet (Not in Education, Employment or Training) By Laura Clark and Sam Greenhill Last updated at 11:11 PM on 16th June 2009 A 'lost generation' of teenage drifters not in work or education and living on benefits has grown by nearly 50,000 under Labour, it emerged yesterday. One in six 18-year- olds are classed by the Government as 'Neet' - Not in Education, Employment or Training - the highest figure since current records began in 1994. Among 18-year-old boys the figure rises to one in five.
The total number of Neets aged from 16 to 18 is 207,800, latest official figures showed - 10.3 per cent of the age group. This is a rise of nearly a third from the figure of 160,760 when Labour came to power in 1997. There are now more than 113,000 18-year-olds, 61,000 17-year-olds and 34,000 16-year-olds not in school and without a job or a training place. The figures include teenage mothers and others living on benefits but will in reality be higher, as they do not include youngsters in custody for committing crimes. The figures did show an improvement in the proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds staying on in education or training: 79.7 per cent, up from 78 per cent a year earlier. The rise in the number of Neets was down to 'reduced employment among young people', statisticians said. Ministers admitted growing numbers of teenagers are leaving school or college and struggling to find a job or university place. And they were warned the problem is likely to get even worse as the recession deepens. The increase in Neets could take a devastating toll on the country. Government figures suggest that each new Neet dropping out of education at 16 will cost the taxpayer an average of £97,000 during their lifetime, and the worst more than £300,000. The figures are a combination of unemployment benefits, handouts to mothers, the costs of clearing up crime and their failure to pay taxes. Children's charity Barnardo's said the situation was 'desperate' for young people leaving school at 16 trying to work or train in the workplace. Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: 'We risk having a lost generation of young people who will always be on the periphery of the economy.' Schools Secretary Ed Balls admitted the Neet figures were 'disappointing' but pointed to the rise in those staying on in education. He said: 'It is a tough time for the economy and for the youth labour market. What we are seeing today is a record proportion of 16 to 18-yearolds in education or in training.' He said the Government would ensure all 16 and 17-year-olds had a training place if they wanted one. But Tory universities spokesman David Willetts said: 'This is more evidence that young people are bearing the brunt of the recession. 'But this problem has been getting worse for more than ten years, long before the recession began. There has been a failure in work-based learning. 'Colleges are geared up to churn out paper qualifications and employers wishing to offer apprenticeships face too much red tape.' Liberal Democrat schools spokesman David Laws said: 'This will only get worse when school leavers enter a very tough job market this year. 'Ministers have let down thousands of young people by failing to improve overall standards in schools and colleges.'
Thought you might like to see the following article, have included link at end: One in six long-term young jobless 'dead within ten years' By Laura Clark Last updated at 10:47 AM on 07th August 2009 Comments (69) Add to My Stories A 'profoundly shocking' study found that one in six long-term jobless young people were dead within a decade. In one British city, 15 per cent of 'Neets' - Not in Education, Employment or Training - died mainly from drinking or drugs within ten years of falling out of the system. The research was highlighted by one of the country's most senior civil servants who said he hoped it was not representative of the country as a whole.
However, it points to the devastating toll the economic crisis threatens to take on a 'lost generation'. On the streets: Many young people lead aimless lives (posed by models) The recession has triggered a surge in the number of 16- to 24-year-olds who are classed as Neet to 935,000 - almost 16 per cent of the age group. As the number dropping out of the education and training system reaches a 16-year high, Jon Coles, the Government's director general of schools, said there was a huge 'social cost' linked to being outside the education system. 'This was brought home to me very sharply about 18 months ago in one city in the North,' he told a conference in London. 'They had examined what had happened to the long-term Neets of ten years ago. They found one profoundly shocking thing, which I still find profoundly shocking today.
More...One in six young people live on benefits and are Neets (Not in Education, Employment or Training)
'Those who had been outside the system for a long time, whether because they were permanently excluded or simply because they had dropped out at the end of compulsory schooling and had not got into anything else, 15 per cent of those young people of ten years ago were dead by the time the research was done.' Mr Coles said he hoped the statistics were not typical, and his aides, who were unable to name the city where the study took place, insisted it was 'one bit of local research which could not be taken as representative of the whole country'. But Mr Coles, one of the most senior mandarins in the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), said that being outside the system led some young people into a 'downward spiral' that led to them dying 'very, very young'. He added: 'For those of us who sometimes console ourselves with the thought that education is not a matter of life and death, actually for the most vulnerable children and young people in our society it really is.' Studies have shown that Neets are more likely to suffer depression and poor physical health. Research compiled by the thinktank Reform showed that drug use among 16- to 18-year-olds is higher, with 71 per cent admitting to trying illegal drugs compared with 45 per cent of non-Neets. They were also significantly more likely to be involved in crime. The untimely deaths of the youngsters in the study are said to result from 'risky behaviours' including drug-taking and binge- drinking. They are also thought to be more vulnerable to suicidal tendencies and murder. Mr Coles' disclosure in the Times Educational Supplement raises fresh questions over Labour's flagship £4billion New Deal scheme, in which businesses are paid to take on unemployed workers. Up to half are back on benefits within a year. A DCSF spokeswoman cautioned against extrapolating the study findings, pointing out that life expectancies varied around the country. She added: 'It is clear that young people who are Neet are at greater risk of poor health and negative outcomes in later life, which is one of the key reasons we see reducing the Neet numbers as such a high priority.'
I have found another site that you might be interested in re NEETS - this is the link for the Japan Times, it is an English newspaper in Japan, and it has some reports about how the government and other agencies are trying to involve these young people, it's long as it's actually the search page for NEETS:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.japantimes.co.jp/gsearch/gsearch.html?cx=partner-pub-4223870936880387%3Axbmt01-kzym&cof=FORID%3A11&q=NEETS&sa=Search#0
Sarah, this is the article I was telling you about in the Daily Mail yesterday:
ReplyDeleteLabour's lost generation: 1 in 10 teenagers is now a Neet (Not in Education, Employment or Training)
By Laura Clark and Sam Greenhill
Last updated at 11:11 PM on 16th June 2009
A 'lost generation' of teenage drifters not in work or education and living on benefits has grown by nearly 50,000 under Labour, it emerged yesterday.
One in six 18-year- olds are classed by the Government as 'Neet' - Not in Education, Employment or Training - the highest figure since current records began in 1994.
Among 18-year-old boys the figure rises to one in five.
The total number of Neets aged from 16 to 18 is 207,800, latest official figures showed - 10.3 per cent of the age group.
This is a rise of nearly a third from the figure of 160,760 when Labour came to power in 1997.
There are now more than 113,000 18-year-olds, 61,000 17-year-olds and 34,000 16-year-olds not in school and without a job or a training place.
The figures include teenage mothers and others living on benefits but will in reality be higher, as they do not include youngsters in custody for committing crimes.
The figures did show an improvement in the proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds staying on in education or training: 79.7 per cent, up from 78 per cent a year earlier.
The rise in the number of Neets was down to 'reduced employment among young people', statisticians said.
Ministers admitted growing numbers of teenagers are leaving school or college and struggling to find a job or university place. And they were warned the problem is likely to get even worse as the recession deepens.
The increase in Neets could take a devastating toll on the country. Government figures suggest that each new Neet dropping out of education at 16 will cost the taxpayer an average of £97,000 during their lifetime, and the worst more than £300,000.
The figures are a combination of unemployment benefits, handouts to mothers, the costs of clearing up crime and their failure to pay taxes.
Children's charity Barnardo's said the situation was 'desperate' for young people leaving school at 16 trying to work or train in the workplace.
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: 'We risk having a lost generation of young people who will always be on the periphery of the economy.'
Schools Secretary Ed Balls admitted the Neet figures were 'disappointing' but pointed to the rise in those staying on in education.
He said: 'It is a tough time for the economy and for the youth labour market. What we are seeing today is a record proportion of 16 to 18-yearolds in education or in training.'
He said the Government would ensure all 16 and 17-year-olds had a training place if they wanted one.
But Tory universities spokesman David Willetts said: 'This is more evidence that young people are bearing the brunt of the recession.
'But this problem has been getting worse for more than ten years, long before the recession began. There has been a failure in work-based learning.
'Colleges are geared up to churn out paper qualifications and employers wishing to offer apprenticeships face too much red tape.'
Liberal Democrat schools spokesman David Laws said: 'This will only get worse when school leavers enter a very tough job market this year.
'Ministers have let down thousands of young people by failing to improve overall standards in schools and colleges.'
Thought you might like to see the following article, have included link at end:
ReplyDeleteOne in six long-term young jobless 'dead within ten years'
By Laura Clark
Last updated at 10:47 AM on 07th August 2009
Comments (69) Add to My Stories A 'profoundly shocking' study found that one in six long-term jobless young people were dead within a decade.
In one British city, 15 per cent of 'Neets' - Not in Education, Employment or Training - died mainly from drinking or drugs within ten years of falling out of the system.
The research was highlighted by one of the country's most senior civil servants who said he hoped it was not representative of the country as a whole.
However, it points to the devastating toll the economic crisis threatens to take on a 'lost generation'.
On the streets: Many young people lead aimless lives (posed by models)
The recession has triggered a surge in the number of 16- to 24-year-olds who are classed as Neet to 935,000 - almost 16 per cent of the age group.
As the number dropping out of the education and training system reaches a 16-year high, Jon Coles, the Government's director general of schools, said there was a huge 'social cost' linked to being outside the education system.
'This was brought home to me very sharply about 18 months ago in one city in the North,' he told a conference in London.
'They had examined what had happened to the long-term Neets of ten years ago. They found one profoundly shocking thing, which I still find profoundly shocking today.
More...One in six young people live on benefits and are Neets (Not in Education, Employment or Training)
'Those who had been outside the system for a long time, whether because they were permanently excluded or simply because they had dropped out at the end of compulsory schooling and had not got into anything else, 15 per cent of those young people of ten years ago were dead by the time the research was done.'
Mr Coles said he hoped the statistics were not typical, and his aides, who were unable to name the city where the study took place, insisted it was 'one bit of local research which could not be taken as representative of the whole country'.
But Mr Coles, one of the most senior mandarins in the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), said that being outside the system led some young people into a 'downward spiral' that led to them dying 'very, very young'.
He added: 'For those of us who sometimes console ourselves with the thought that education is not a matter of life and death, actually for the most vulnerable children and young people in our society it really is.'
Studies have shown that Neets are more likely to suffer depression and poor physical health.
Research compiled by the thinktank Reform showed that drug use among 16- to 18-year-olds is higher, with 71 per cent admitting to trying illegal drugs compared with 45 per cent of non-Neets.
They were also significantly more likely to be involved in crime.
The untimely deaths of the youngsters in the study are said to result from 'risky behaviours' including drug-taking and binge- drinking. They are also thought to be more vulnerable to suicidal tendencies and murder.
Mr Coles' disclosure in the Times Educational Supplement raises fresh questions over Labour's flagship £4billion New Deal scheme, in which businesses are paid to take on unemployed workers. Up to half are back on benefits within a year.
A DCSF spokeswoman cautioned against extrapolating the study findings, pointing out that life expectancies varied around the country.
She added: 'It is clear that young people who are Neet are at greater risk of poor health and negative outcomes in later life, which is one of the key reasons we see reducing the Neet numbers as such a high priority.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1204848/One-long-term-young-jobless-dead-years.html#ixzz0NcRTekFK