School Leavers Future Brighter thanks to Edinburgh Guarantee

This press statement tells of how Lib Dem led Edinburgh City Council is to ensure that every student leaves school with a job, training or college/university place.

 

Edinburgh Guarantee to aim for a positive destination for every school leaver

Published Thursday 8 December 2011

A call has gone out to city businesses and organisations across all sectors to provide jobs, paid work experience, training or continued education for every school leaver in Edinburgh.

Government statistics revealed yesterday that there are currently 394 young people in Edinburgh who have not secured a positive destination since leaving school earlier this year.  This is a big improvement on last year's figure of 538 and Edinburgh has bucked the trend, but city leaders are calling for more to be done for all school leavers.
The call was made at a breakfast debate, hosted by J.P. Morgan, which brought together 120 individuals from Edinburgh businesses and organisations to discuss the ongoing issue of youth unemployment in Edinburgh and to encourage participation in the development of the Edinburgh Guarantee.

City Economic Development Leader Cllr Tom Buchanan said:
"If we want our young people to be ambitious then we, as a city, need to be committed to their cause.  Edinburgh's economic future depends on school leavers having opportunities to develop and that's why public, private and voluntary sector organisations are getting involved.  Our aim is very ambitious and it will be a challenge to achieve but our young people are relying on us all to make it happen."
City Education Leader Cllr Marilyne MacLaren said:
"The Edinburgh Guarantee is building up a head of steam and the early signs are that our approach is making a real difference to many young lives. We have changed the face of careers advice in our schools and young people are more prepared than ever before to make informed decisions about their future. However, they need to move into employment, education, apprenticeships or training quickly and, by pulling together, Edinburgh organisations can make a huge impact on the current situation."
The Edinburgh Guarantee, unveiled earlier this year, brings together employers and other organisations with the aim of creating employment, training and further education opportunities for Edinburgh's school leavers.

J.P. Morgan was one of the inaugural members of the Youth Unemployment Taskforce, established earlier this year to tackle escalating youth unemployment, from which the Edinburgh Guarantee developed.  The firm has committed to building on its partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council to drive the expansion of the Edinburgh Guarantee to ensure young people leaving state school each year move into a positive destination.
The Council has created an additional 50 apprenticeships and 80 training places and is currently recruiting young people to fill these posts. The Council is also working with further education colleges to look at ways of providing more training opportunities.  Standard Life recently became the first company to contribute to the 'Edinburgh 100' target with 12 paid placements.
The Edinburgh 100 aims to offer 100 young people six months paid work experience, personal development and mentoring at city businesses.


The fall from 538 to 394 is the first time in 13 years that there has been a reduction in the number of pupils who don't secure a positive destination.
A total of 3423 pupils left school in 2011.