Interesting piece in this morning’s Western Mail in which the Deputy Minister for Skills, John Griffiths talks about his own experiences in the educatoin system:
The 52-year-old grandfather-of-three said he had full sympathy for children whose experiences at school have been disastrous.
He said: “I’m afraid I hated secondary school and I really didn’t go as often as I should, I must confess. I didn’t take any exams at all in secondary school.”
These experiences, he said, give him credibility when he tells young people not in education or employment that they can change their lives.
He said: “You can so easily feel helpless and desperate, really, because it’s difficult to see a route into good quality employ- ment and a reasonable standard of life for you and your family. When I thought about it, it was clear to me there was only one route and it is education, training and skills.
“I started what was a long haul of getting qualifications and going through the education system, but it really has paid off for me.
“I’d love to see as many people as possible take that [route] into rewarding employment, not just in monetary terms but in terms of quality of working life because it would be such a benefit to them, their families, their communities and Wales as a whole.”
But he added: “It’s still so much easier if you’re born into a middle class family to get to university than if you’re born into a working class family.”
These are noble sentiments, especially when you think that 40% of those registered as unemployed are aged between 19 and 25. However, the route that John Griffiths took has been made so much more difficult by his own Government.
For a start, university students are now required to pay fees and soon the Labour/Plaid Cymru One Wales Government will be introducing ‘top up’ fees in Wales. Despite the promise of bursaries the fear of debt remains a potent factor in deterring the working class kids that John Griffiths talks about from going to University. An additional £6,000 plus debt from fees will not be welcome.
Secondly, further education colleges are closing courses for those over the age of 19 because John Griffith’s own policy as a Minister is to prioritise funding for the 16-19 age group. His government is reducing opportunities for young people, who missed out on their schooling as he did, to return to education later on in life.
It is a compelling story John, but not much good to us when your own policies fail to live up to your rhetoric.
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