Career Academy Ambassadors meet with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for 14-19 Reform and Apprenticeships
Friday 12 March
On Wednesday 3 March, four Career Academy ambassadors - Jack Webb, Agne Griauslyte, Cansu Huseyin and Mosleh Chowdhury - set off for Pall Mall bright and early to go for a very special meeting. They had been given the chance to quiz Iain Wright MP, the Government's minister for Schools, on why he thinks business education programmes such as Career Academies UK are so important and how his party's policies will benefit young people.
Joined by Dev Sanyal (Group Vice President of BP), Richard Chambers (Principal of Lambeth College) and Kim Clifford (Principal of Sir George Monoux College), the students shared their experiences of the Career Academy programme and explained how it had enhanced their own career aspirations.
Jack started off by questioning the minister on what he thought should be done to promote BTECs. This was followed by a question from Cansu on what the minister considered to be essential employability skills for young people. He replied that passion, research skills, determination and attention to details are crucial to success, citing the example that when his employees do not take the time to spell his own name correctly (with an extra ‘i') their work goes straight into the bin!
Iain Wright said: "I agree, it is incredibly important to equip students with the skills they need to thrive in the modern world. This should be at the very heart of what schools do. If students are to realise their career aspirations and gain a meaningful experience of the world of work, schools and employers need to pull together."
He also recognised the fact that it is important to break the cycle of students needing experience to get a job, but at the same time needing a job to get experience. "For many young people, unpaid work experience is not an option, which is why paid internships, such as those Career Academies offer, are so important," he added.
The students went on to share their mixed experience of careers advice within their school or college and the group discussed with the minister what could be done to improve this.
Dev Sanyal was also able to provide a unique insight, from an employer perspective, by highlighting that hosting internships for young people has mutual benefits and that these need to be better communicated. He said that the programme offered personal development opportunities for staff; give businesses get the chance to meet students early in their career; and take part in local community life.
At the end of the session the minister certainly left well-informed about the work of the Career Academy programme and everyone agreed that the discussion had been extremely worthwhile and thought-provoking. Hopefully the roundtable will inspire the government to find ways to ensure that more students get the opportunity to gain meaningful workplace experiences.
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