Commenting on a new report titled ‘Avoiding the same old mistakes: Lessons for reform of 14-19 education in England’ published today by the IPPR, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, said:
“The IPPR is right to call for greater employer engagement in education and for an improved vocational education and training system. This will help to ensure that young people are given the right technical and soft skills to secure a job and work their way up the ladder.
“The Chamber Network, which has both schools and further education colleges in our membership, is already playing a crucial role strengthening local connections to build sustainable relationships between education and business.
“The recent British Chamber of Commerce’s Workforce Survey 2014 ,which included many Norfolk members, found that many firms think young people are unprepared for work, with 76% citing lack of work experience as a key reason. However, more than half of businesses (52%) say they don’t offer work experience placements. I have never come across a business who is not passionate about helping Norfolk young people but there needs to be simple solutions in order for them to get started. N4J in which the Norfolk Chamber members have played a role, has already had a significant impact on youth unemployment but every young person not in work is a loss on a personal and economic level.
“In the BCC Business Manifesto 2014/15 a number of measures have been proposed to better prepare young people for work and to encourage companies to play a greater role in preparing the next generation of workers. In practice, this means introducing business governance into schools, proper careers advice with direct links to business, and measuring the success of schools and colleges based on the employment outcomes of pupils.
At the BCC Chambers CEO Round table last week in Harrogate we all agreed to share best practise on work we were doing in our local areas to support young people, under the Young Chamber brand, to enable the Chamber Network to really have an impact at a local level which is a very exciting new development”
