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Obsessed with exams, devoid of vocational training: there is a total mismatch between schools and life beyond their gates
Blame the schools. Alan Milburn’s report on Neets, published in May, was one of the most damning comments on the welfare state I have read. It described a new generation of a million mostly poor Britons now encouraged to fare worse, not better, than their parents. This means, said Milburn, that “the great British promise” – the advance of generations – is being broken. A sizeable chunk of the population is going backwards.
The number of young people not in education, employment or training – one in eight of all 16- to 24-year-olds – is rising fast and will be 1.25 million by 2030. More than 80% of them claim to want to find a job, education or training. A third even have “good GCSEs”, but 44% of them are on state benefits, now costing £8.1bn. Many of them suffer from anxiety and other disabilities, according to the NHS. The number of young people with special educational needs has doubled in 10 years. Mental ill-health is bordering on pandemic levels.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
