Press Release: Government is failing our young men
Commenting on new Government figures today showing that men are being left behind in the education system.
the Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, David Willetts, said
“These new figures show how far our young men are falling behind women in education and training. They are less likely to be in full-time education. They are more likely to be inactive. And, even when they are in education, they tend to be taking lower qualifications.
“The Government’s initiatives, from the New Deal to new Apprenticeships, are just not working.”
Notes to Editors
1. Today’s figures on ‘Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 Year Olds in England’ (http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000792/SFR13-2008.pdf) show that young men are doing worse than young women. For example:
• a lower proportion of men aged 16, 17 and 18 are in full-time education (Table 1) - overall, 67.5% of women aged 16 to 18 are in full-time education, compared to 59.1% of men;
• a higher proportion of men aged 16 to 18 are not in any education, employment or training - 10.0% compared to 8.8%; and
• 37% of men in further education (full-time) are studying at level 3 (A-Level or equivalent) compared to 45.5% of women.
2. The Government has consistently missed its apprenticeship targets. For example, in 2003 Gordon Brown said there would be 320,000 apprenticeships by 2006 (Hansard, 9/4/03, c.282). Yet in 2006/07, there were just 239,000 (Learning and Skills Council, First Release, 18/12/07). Last year, Brown committed ‘to double apprenticeship numbers to 500,000′ (Hansard, 21/3/07, c.827). But the total is currently falling (by 13,000 between 2005/06 and 2006/07 - LSC, First Release, 18/12/07). The level of demand for each place is higher for apprenticeships than it is for Oxbridge. (e.g. In 2006, 14,094 people applied for 3,339 places at Cambridge.)
3. The number of 16-18 year old NEETs has grown under Labour: in 1997 there were 161,000. Today, that figure is 190,000. Each NEET dropping out at 16 costs the taxpayer an average of £97,000 over his or her lifetime, with the toughest cases estimated at £300,000. (Coles B et al ‘Literature review of the costs of Being “Not in Education, Employment or Training” at age 16 to 18′, Department for Education and Skills, 2002)