23.03.2018
The support available to young people as they try to decide what they want to do later in life is the focus of a survey by the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee.
Focussed on young people between 15 and 24, the survey is aiming to learn more about why young people follow certain routes, what helps them and what hinders them, and whether they get to where they want to be.
This includes the support and information available to help them know, at school and beyond, what the available options are. It will also explore how young people made decisions about their future.
During the Year of Young People, the Committee has decided to be led by the voices of young people from the survey results before deciding what issues to drill down into in evidence sessions in June.
Launching the survey today, Committee Convener, James Dornan MSP said:
“The decision about what you want to do with your life can come at one of the most challenging times in life. Between 15 and 24 you’re trying to decide where you want to go or what you want to do and this can be hard without the right support.
“We often hear about the importance of positive destinations for our young people, but we know for some people it isn’t easy to get there. It is hard to decide what to do when you leave school and to have all the necessary support you need.
“There are so many options, whether you go to a job, into an apprenticeship or head to college or university. Unless young people know these options exist and, more importantly, are supported in getting to the right role for them, young people cannot fulfil their potential.”
The survey that launched today also asks about extra-curricular support that can help just as well when making decisions about the future.
A copy of the survey can be found here.
More information on the Committee’s work can be found on the Committee’s webpage here.