Abstract
In April 1978 the Youth Opportunities Programme (YOP) was established, largely on the lines laid down in 1977 by the Holland Report on Young People and Work [1]. The programme coordinated and greatly expanded the range of schemes of work experience and training which had previously been run separately under programmes such as the Work Experience Programme and the Job Creation Programme. YOP currently provides for more than a quarter of a million unemployed young people each year. Nine in ten are provided with work experience; most of these are on Work Experience on Employers Premises (WEEP) schemes, but other work experience schemes function in training workshops, community service ventures or projects specially set up for the programme. The remaining one in ten of YOP entrants (or 'trainees') attend work preparation courses, although trainees on work experience schemes are also entitled to further education or training. All trainees receive a standard allowance which is paid by the Manpower Services Commission (MSC). The median length of schemes is six months, although trainees are encouraged to continue looking for permanent employment while attending schemes and those who are successful may leave early. The Holland Report also proposed that young people should be able to progress from one kind of scheme to another, especially from courses to work experience, although only about one in five currently do so [2]. YOP is potentially of great significance for all those with an interest in the relation of education to employment, for at least three reasons. The first is its scale. In its first year (1978-79) some 162,000 young people entered the programme [3]. This total has risen year by year and in its fourth year (1981-82) it is expected to provide for some 550,000 entrants [4] although since the level of provision is intended to respond to the demand the actual number of entrants may be even greater. This total can be compared with the 700,000 or so young people who currently enter the labour market from school each year in Britain; a majority of all school leavers entering the labour market can now expect to pass through a YOP scheme, and among some groups-such as the unqualified, and those in areas of highest unemployment-YOP will reach a very large majority indeed. The second reason for the educational significance of YOP arises from its objectives which are in large part 'educational'; the programme aims to enhance the skills and personal development of unemployed young people and to compensate for any deficiencies in their education by offering them remedial training in basic and social skills. Thirdly, the programme is an innovation, and represents the intervention of a new agency (the MSC) and new interests into an area of policy (the vocational preparation of
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call