UK Gov't Inaction to Address Career Challenges of Youth 'Unacceptable'

UK Chairs of the Education, Skills and the Economy Committee expressed concerns that the government's dismissal of the committee's recommendation to encourage schools to improve their careers advice to bring a clearer picture to career prospects for students and called the government to formulate an urgent strategy to ensure all young people.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The UK government's apathy in addressing the career challenges facing the youth is inadmissible, and ministers must ensure that career provision is urgently improved, the Chairs of the Education, Skills and the Economy Committee said in a statement to the UK parliament on Tuesday.

"The Government's lack of action to address failings in careers provision is unacceptable and its response to our report smacks of complacency. Ministers appear to be burying their heads in the sand while careers guidance fails young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds," co-chairs of the Committee Neil Carmichael and Iain Wright said in the statement.

The committee strongly criticized the government's response to a report that the committee published in July that concluded that the provision is still poor in many schools, which resulted in many people without a clear vision of career options in the future.

The committee also expressed concerns that the government's dismissal of the committee's recommendation to encourage schools to improve their careers advice to bring a clearer picture to career prospects for students and called the government to formulate an urgent strategy to ensure all young people have access to high quality information, advice and guidance.

The Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy is formed from sub-Committees of the Education Committee and the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee. It aims to bring together committee members in an innovative way to examine issues around education and skills, and how they impact upon business and the economy.