Hi All
Here's a quick update on Let's Build Bridges' progress so far for the month of June.
Thanks to the youth workers for joining this Forum. Your insight into youth services will be a great help for non-graduates' opportunities. From what I have been told by UK Youth, there are currently 5 certificate qualifications that non-graduates can be assessed for. While this is great for their career opportunities, I submit that if non-graduates were assessed for every skill - in much the same way as for apprentices, and for all the same skills - then they would be able to prove themselves, by gaining a lot of certificate qualifications.
As non-graduates have told me, they have worked jobs, that have given them ungraded skills and experience. So the challenge now, is for us to find a way to integrate qualified assessment - for all skills - into the support services that 16-24 year old non-graduates now receive. I know that this will give young people the fighting chance they need for decent careers, and I welcome the youth workers' thoughts on how we can achieve this.
On the knowledge transfer side, I am pushing to make sure that all students are being given the work experience they need to get a decent career for when they graduate. I would like to see student work experience be made a compulsory part of higher education, as students will need this to compete with experienced apprentices, for jobs. With this in mind, I have written an open letter to all UK universities and colleges, making the case for compulsory student work experience. I have so far had several replies, from careers officers, and look forward to hearing from the rest.
What would really help the students, I think; would be to keep a national list, of colleges/schools within each university, whose students are still looking for work experience. This would be like a league table for opportunities, and could be used as a kind of checklist, to make sure all students had had their chance. The list could then be matched with another list of businesses whose owners are prepared to offer it. According to what staff from Prospects magazine and NASES have told me, there is not yet a national list like this. But I think it would be helpful to have one.
On the job creation side, I am very pleased to report that the Gorilla Opportunity database has now had over 6,000 views on Google+, and is attracting long term investment opportunities, from within the business community:
Google+ (‘Gorilla Opportunity’ Start-Ups Database)
The Gorilla database exists to empower entrepreneurs with a Toolkit to start new businesses, and hence, is an enterprise in its own right. The project has been a great success. But let's not lose sight of its ultimate aim: to create jobs, and also to give adults a chance to feel valued.
So there has been a lot of progress, but I look forward to hearing members' feedback on all these issues. You are welcome to discuss with me and with each other. Our efforts will help the opportunities of both young people and adults.
Best Regards to All
James M
Founder
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