Wednesday 15 July 2009

Newsnight discussion

With unemployment soaring, there was an interesting discussion on Newsnight (BBC2) tonight about, specifically, youth unemployment. One of the young people interviewed was a graduate who had signed off JSA rather than continue with a 13-week New Deal programme. He said it was a waste of time, in overcrowded, drab surroundings, and was actually preventing him looking for work. The provider wasn't mentioned. The minister, Jim Knight, said he would look into who the provider was, but admitted that the programmes were not designed for people with higher skills. Well-qualified, well-educated people have been saying this for a long time!

5 comments:

  1. As I sat there watching it I did wonder if it was A4e he was referring to? I wished the young man in question had raised the matter of how much taxpayers money is being wasted on the New Deal.

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  2. "New Deal Scandal" left a comment which I've had to edit slightly:
    What a bunch of s****. What does he mean about the programmes not being designed for those with "higher skills"? So overcrowding, drab surroundings and preventing someone finding work are all attributes which are unacceptable for those who have "higher skills" but those who don't fall in this category should put up with such inhumane conditions? Disgusting!

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  3. What this clearly proves is what I have said all along - A4e and many other New Deal 'training' providers operate an LCD (lowest common denominator)policy. One size fits all seems to be the order of the day.

    So if you have a college or university qualification, as many had at the A4e office I attended in Leeds, then New Deal cannot help you, even though attending such schemes is compulsary!

    This shows the failure of New Deal. Only this govt is not big enough to admit it.

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  4. Degrees began in the 9th Century (859) - Universities such as Oxford were around the 12th Century or so...New Deal began, erm... 1998 (20th Century)?

    There really is no excuse for the poor small minded labour policies. Degrees etc. far predates the UK welfare state of the early 1900's not to mention so-called training programmes.

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