Changes to Literacy in Post-16 Education - Essay Example

1973 Russell Report adult education. 1973 School leaving age raised to 16. 1976 1976 Callaghans Ruskin Speech began The Great Debate about education. 1978 1978 Waddell Report recommended a single exam at age 16 to replace the GCE O Level and CSE. (In the event, the GCSE was not introduced until 1986). Timeline of literacy changes 1978 Youth Opportunities Programme introduced for 16-18 year olds. 1979 Mansell Report A basis for choice recommended rationalising provision of non-specific vocational courses for school leavers. 1980 White Paper A new training initiative: a programme for action set out the first plans for the Youth Training Scheme (YTS). 1982 Thompson Report review of the Youth Service. 1982 Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) launched. Aimed to stimulate TVE for 14-18 year olds, administered by MSC. 1983 TVEI pilot schemes began 1985 Better schools - a summary DES booklet summarising the White Paper. 1985 Green Paper Education and training for young people announced major expansion of YTS from April 1986. 1986 YTS extended to two years 1988 1988 Social Security Act required 16 and 17 year olds to register for YTS. 1988 Youth Training Guarantee All 16 and 17 year olds were to be in education, employment or training. 1991 White Paper on higher education recommended expansion of student numbers. 1996 Dearing Report review of vocational qualifications for 16-19 year olds. 1997 Investing in Young People announced by DfEE. Its aim was to increase participation in post-16 education. 1997 1997 Green Paper Excellence for all children: meeting special educational needs set out five year plan. 1999 Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) pilot schemes aimed at greater take-up of and achievement in post-16 education. 2004 2004 Tomlinson Report 14-19 Curriculum and Qualifications Reform report of the working group chaired by former chief inspector Mike Tomlinson. 2005 2005 White paper 14-19 Education and Skills rejected most of 2004 Tomlinson Reports recommendations. 2007 2007 Teaching 2020 a paper setting out the governments vision for schooling in the future. 2007 School leaving age the government announced its intention to raise the SLA to 18, possibly in 2013. Source: Education in England online http://www.dg.dial.pipex.com/history/timeline.shtml Introduction Globalization and information technologies have rendered many skills obsolete and as a result, workers in today’s global economy must acquire new forms of “literacies.” Many organizations are finding that their employees lack the basic skills needed to successfully perform their job responsibilities. Lack of cognitive and reading ability levels of these employees can impede performance and learning in the work environment. The job environment can also be threatening to employees who have not received formal or basic education for some length of time. The increased amounts of information generated by the process of globalization in education, politics, and society have produced a greater requirement for the need of knowledge and major emphasis of the development of the individual competencies to meet these needs. It should be asked, what kind of knowledge should be the basis for developing these competencies? Compulsory education in England currently ends at 16 years of age (Spielhofer et. al., 2007). Due to leaving schools at an early age and without enough education, these young school leavers face hardship at the workplace. This is an alarming situation and the importance to improve knowledge and working skills have been realized and debated frequently (Jones et. al., 2004). Due to this reason, new education policies are implemented in order that young people should continue their education and training beyond that date. However, in spite of all the efforts to engage young people in education, there is very likelihood that young people would leave school at 16 and seek jobs without training (JWT) as well as not in employment, education or training (NEET). In this context, the government launched a Green Paper called Raising Expectations in March 2007 (DfES, 2007c). This paper proposes that, from 2015, all young people should be required to participate in some form of education or training until they reach the age of 18 (Spielhofer et. al., 2007). This participation could be ‘in a school, college, with a work-based learning provider, or as part of a job’; it could be full-time, ‘or part time if a young person is in full time employment’. Though, the raising school age has become the foucs of present government policiies and the year 2015 has been set the milstone to achive this objective, this idea for engaging young people so stay in school till the age of 18 has its roots in 1918. however, at that particualr time, young men and teachers were being sent off to fight. That is why, the school leaving age was lowered to 12-14. again, during the WWII, the school leaving age was pushed up to 15. In 1972 it was again raised to 16, however, this time the obstacles in ahciving this objective were teacher shortages and the baby boom phemomena. In spite of all these obstacles, the eudcation policy makers have been adamant to engage young people in education and presently, as discussed previousy, this age limit has been set to 18 and this objective has to be achived till 2015. As refected in the Queens Speech on November 6th, this measure is a determintion to bring Britain into line with the rest of the developed world. In this context, there are many new qualifications and training programmes being implemented which are expected to boost the young people participation ratio in the United Kindgom. The necessaity to speed up such programs can be understood in the background of globalization, new trends and technologies of the present era and the multinational corporate setup which require a well educated and highly skilled workforce. In this scenario, it is evident that in near future, Britons will need to be better qualified to get work. Already, there are demonstrations of new posts being created and filled up by the most better-educated workers from abroad. So, the government rightly belives that if there is no significant change in literacy programs, the things would be even tougher for the local population. The government accepted the findings of a review by Lord Leitch in July, which anticipated that by 2020 the number of low-skilled jobs in Britain would collapse catastrophically. The reivew recommended further the need of more training for the peaople alaready in job for those who are seeking employment. Another reason to impetus the school age raising policies is the plight of the people not in education, employment or training (NEET). Unfortunately, about 10% of those between 16 and 18 fall into this category. The 1% who stay in it for the whole two years are likely to end up among the long-term unemployed (Britain: Must try harder; Education reform. (2007). So, according to the policies set forth in Raising Expectations (DfES, 2007c), from 2015, all young people all 18-year-olds will have to spend at least 16 hours a week in education or work-based training. The only alternative will be working at least 20 hours and training in the classroom for just a day a week. It is expected that when participation to 18 becomes compulsory, most of the young participants will move into jobs with training, vocational courses or courses leading to qualifications at level 2 or below. However, there are still some apprehensions on the part of the government who believes that its other plans will dangle sufficiently juicy carrots before disaffected youngsters to lure them back into learning or training without much wielding of big sticks. For this reason, another bill was announced which is expected to increase the number of apprenticeships available and which also gaurantees any suitabley qualified youngers a proper employment by 2013. A work-based program, "Entry 2 Employment", is started for those between 16 and 18 who cannot read, write and figure well enough to go straight into an apprenticeship and will be extended further. The government is trying hard to tempt the staying on at school through maintenance allowances, which pay poorer youngsters pounds 30 a week to keep learning. The government is determined to utilize this allowance more lavishly. The “specialized diplomas” are supposed to brige the gap between academic and vocational study for those who would like to stay in school, at least for some of the time, new. Acording the program, the first five diplomas will be taught from 2008. it is expected that by 2013, all teenagers will have a wide range of diploma subjects to choose from. Fourteen diplomas are primarily vocational mainly related to construction and retailing. However, these also include a good deal of classroom learning. Further, three are mostly academic learning in humanities, science and languages which are meant to temp universities into taking diplomas seriously. The present alarming scenario of NEETs (not in employment, education or training) is a clear indication that they do not see any clear way forward for getting employment and earning good living. That is why they vaccilate between short-term jobs and undemanding courses. Many of the unemployed who are idle about for the full two years tend to fall a victims of drug addiction, homelessness and early childbearing. Although, the government has planned well to engage young people in schools till the age of 18, there are some apprehensions that the new plans will mostly restrict the choices of youngsters who would prefer to work and pick up an education in the university of life, and are perfectly capable of doing so, while leaving the needier hard core untouched (Britain: Must try harder; Education reform, 2007). References “Britain: Must try harder; Education reform.” (2007, November). The Economist, 385(8554), 42.  Retrieved June 11, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1380169771). Department for Education and Skills (2007c). Raising Expectations: Staying in Education and Training Post-16 (Cm. 7065). London: The Stationery Office. [online]. Available: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/raisingexpectations/index.shtml “Education in England: a brief history” available online http://www.dg.dial.pipex.com/history/timeline.shtml> accessed on May 11th 2008 Gill Jones, Ann O’sullivan and Julia Rouse (2004). "Because It’s Worth It?": Education Beliefs Among Young People and Their Parents in the United Kingdom. Youth Society 36; 203 available online accessed on 10th May, 2008. Thomas Spielhofer, Matt Walker, Kerensa Gagg, Sandie Schagen and Sharon O’Donnell(2007). Raising the Participation Age in Education and Training to 18. National Foundation for Educational Research. Read More