The government has announced a £60 million commitment to help boost youth employment as well as extra support for apprenticeships and changes to vocational training and education.

As part of the package, the coalition will provide financial help for up to 250,000 apprenticeships over the next four years and for 100,000 work experience places for the next two years.

The government is keen to remove long-term structural barriers which make it difficult for young people to find jobs and develop successful careers.

Also included in the plan are proposals to reduce the bureaucracy businesses face with regards to apprenticeships, a new access programme for those keen to follow this path and the launch of various sector-based work academies.

Prime minister David Cameron said: "This is about more than getting our economy back on track. It's about more than improving the jobless numbers. It's about changing people's lives. Showing our young people we believe in them."

According to statistics revealed by the Department of Education, 938,000 16 to 24-year-olds were classed as not in education, employment or training at the end of 2010.

Posted by Chris Seel
 

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