22nd June 2009

Last week the latest nationwide unemployment figures were published, and these showed yet another big jump in unemployment.

The rises are particularly hitting younger people, between the ages of 16-24, and in some ways this is unsurprising – as these are the people who are most likely to suffer when employers decide simply to freeze new hiring.

Nevertheless, it is deeply worrying that so many young people are presently without work, and we know that long spells of unemployment can make it more difficult to get work in the future.

We need to consider whether there is more that we can do to help young people until economic recovery starts to create more employment. Nick Clegg, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has asked me to Chair a team of MPs and advisers within our Party to come up with proposals to address this problem, and I will be looking at this issue very closely over the next few weeks. All ideas are welcome – so if this is an area where you have expertise or proposals, then do let me know.

One area of employment that is benefiting from the economic downturn is teaching, where the number of applications is up sharply. This often happens at times of economic weakness, and it gives us an opportunity to recruit more high quality staff, who then need to be retained in teaching for the future.

Last week I attended the “Teach First” Awards Ceremony in London, and was asked to present one of the awards to a “Teach First Ambassador”, who has stayed on in teaching. “Teach First” was an idea imported from America a few years ago, to seek to attract some of the country’s top graduates into teaching. “Teach First” takes a limited number of young people into teaching each year – many from Britain’s top universities. These young people are “fast-tracked” into the classroom, into some of the most challenging schools in the country.

Such schools are usually in very poor areas, with low aspirations. The scheme has helped not merely to fill teacher vacancies in these schools, but to place some of our best graduates into some of our toughest educational challenges. It is understood as part of the scheme that not all young people will want to stay in teaching, but those who leave after a couple of years remain as “Teach First Ambassadors”, and they generally remain tied in to supporting education – as School Governors or in some other role. However, 60% of Teach First Graduates stay on in teaching after the 2 year initial commitment.

This scheme works well in part because it is NOT run by the Government! Long may this continue. Indeed, I hope that the scheme will continue to thrive and expand in the years to come.

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting Westfield Secondary School in Yeovil, where Vice Principal Kris Gibson and others gave me a whistle-stop 1 ½ hour tour of the school to show how much progress has been made in its Science Specialism over the last couple of years. I also met staff from Yeovil College, who work very closely with the school in these and other areas.

I met a number of the students and was able to see their work in science, engineering and maths. There is a new “Science Outdoor Classroom”, and science and maths enrichment courses for some students.

I was also able to see some of the work which students have produced as part of their courses – and I was incredibly impressed by its quality. Having these sorts of skills will help students not only to gain qualifications but to secure employment when they leave education. Many of the skills being absorbed will be of real value in the significant engineering sector in South Somerset, and I was pleased to see that one of the School Governors is an employee at Agusta Westland.

This week Parliament chose its new Speaker, and then moved on to debates on the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, the Ombudsman’s Report on Equitable Life, and a debate about the Government’s proposed inquiry into Iraq – where much more openness is urgently needed.

Ever,

David.