The government’s failure to improve careers guidance in schools amounts to “burying their heads in the sand”, according to senior MPs.
A statement released today by the chairs of the Education, Skills and the Economy Committee claims that the government has failed to respond to the committee’s report on careers education, information, advice and guidance, which found that provision is still poor in many schools.
According to Neil Carmichael MP and Iain Wright MP, who are co-chairs of the committee, the lack of action taken by government “smacks of complacency” and threatens to “exacerbate the country’s skills gap”.
Mr Carmichael and Mr Wright said: “The government’s lack of action to address failings in careers provision is unacceptable and its response to our report smacks of complacency. Ministers appear to be burying their heads in the sand while careers guidance fails young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and exacerbates the country’s skills gap.
“Impartial advice and guidance and high quality careers education is vital if we are to achieve the social mobility and aspiration that the prime minister has talked about and vital to creating the skilled workforce needed to grow the economy post-Brexit.
‘The government should get its act together’
Mr Carmichael and Mr Wright also said that the government had failed to produce a strategy for careers education, and expressed concern that the committee’s recommendation of giving Ofsted the power to rate secondary schools on their quality of careers information had been rejected.
“We are very disappointed that the careers strategy long-promised by government has still not been produced,” they said. “It is also disappointing that the government has dismissed our recommendations for holding schools to account through Ofsted inspection and untangling the confusing web of organisations, services providers and websites offering careers advice.
“The government should think again on careers advice, take on board our committee’s conclusions and get its act together to produce a thorough careers strategy, which supports the needs of all young people and the economy as a whole.”
‘Good careers education can be crucial’
A spokesperson from the Department for Education said: “Good careers education can be crucial in helping young people make informed choices about their future but we know the quality of that support can vary hugely. The Careers and Enterprise Company is already working with schools and the business sector to increase links between the two and drive up the standard of careers education.
“Its work has included bringing together more than 1,000 enterprise advisers with schools across the country, and creating a free tool for schools to see if their careers advice is in line with a set of national standards. This work is backed by £90 million in investment over the course of this Parliament and will be further supported by our opportunity areas schemes, which is developing new ways for agencies to work together and unlock the potential of every young person.
“We are also investing millions in the National Careers Service to support more young people - between March 2015 and February 2016 around 11,000 13- to 18-year-olds were provided with telephone support through its national contact centre.”
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