It has been a tough five years for young people. The Tories have mercilessly singled us out to bear the brunt of some of their most regressive ideas. From tripling tuition fees, scrapping the Educational Maintenace Allowance and abolishing the Future Jobs Fund – it is clear that helping young people reach their potential is not on their radar.
However, it is not all doom and gloom in Wales, actually we are the envy of our peers who live in England.The Welsh Labour government gets young people. It is in touch with our needs, opinions and values. It is a government that in so many ways stands up for young people and is unashamed of that fact.
Youth unemployment has certainly been a huge problem for some time. Across the north of England, in places that have traditionally mirrored the employment and economic performance of Wales we have witnessed an even more devastating consequence of the Tory and Liberal Democrat coalition.In parts of Bradford, long-term youth unemployment has increased by more than 3,000 per cent. In Leeds, there has been an increase in excess of 800 per cent and on the Wirral, the rise has been 400 per cent in some constituencies. In the Calder Valley, there has been an increase of more than 1,800 per cent.
But not in Wales, where the average increase has been 59 per cent and where Labour has delivered the sharpest fall in youth unemployment and the proportion of young people who are not in education, employment or training. On average, the rise in youth unemployment has been 40 per cent lower than the UK average.
The Jobs Growth Wales scheme is undoubtedly the most successful youth employment program operating anywhere in the European Union. With more than 15,000 job-ready young people helped into work, fewer and fewer young people are left to fend for themselves in a competitive job market, where the phrase ‘we decided to go for another candidate with more experience’ is burnt onto the memory of many of us. Both graduates and those with only a handful of qualifications are benefitting from this innovative scheme – showing that all young people are seen as being in need of proactive support by government.
The Welsh Labour government is delivering one of the most successful apprenticeship programmes in Europe. It has exceeded all targets over the last two years. It currently funds a range of apprenticeships from the Young Recruits Programme to higher apprenticeships. The figures show that in 2012/13 just over 28,000 people in Wales started an apprenticeship – compared to 17,900 in 2011/12.
Carwyn Jones, Leighton Andrews and Huw Lewis have made huge strides in improving schools. Standards of teaching are improving and the amount of young people leaving school with the right qualifications they will need to succeed is improving year on year.Schools estates are being transformed through the biggest capital expenditure program we have ever seen in Wales, while the Tories scrapped the Building Schools for the Future scheme as one of their first acts of office.
While educational standards in England stagnate, we are closing the attainment gap at a significant pace and we have still got Educational Maintenance Allowance to ensure that financial circumstance is not a barrier to post-16 education. Our qualifications are becoming more robust, with widespread acclaim from employers and the higher education sector, most notably from the vice-chancellor of Cambridge university who welcomed the approach that has been taken in Wales.
University tuition fees are also another clear area where the needs of young people have been prioritised. The fact that young people will not be burdened with a lifetime of debt is evidence that we want to enable young people to realise their potential. We should never march to the nationalist’s tune of making the subsidy only applicable to students who chose to study in Wales. We should not cap the aspiration of those wanting to attend Oxbridge by putting financial barriers in front of them and we should not disadvantage young people from North Wales who may want to stay close to home by studying in Liverpool or Chester. We should reject this divisive mantra and allow young people from Wales to study what they want to, where they want to.
Every day, the Welsh Labour party is delivering for the young people of Wales in tough financial times. We should shout about our successes and look forward to building on our record and working with the next UK Labour government to deliver even further for young people.
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Dan Walsh is chair of Welsh Young Labour. He tweets at @DanWalshie
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