§ Mr. Baldryasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the relationship between the technical and vocational education initiative, the certificate for pre-vocational efficiency, AS-level and the youth training scheme with regard to the education of young people.
§ Sir Keith JosephThe initiatives to which my hon. Friend refers are all intended to improve the relevance and breadth of the education and training opportunities available to young people in the transition from school to adult and working life in a technological society. They cater, in different ways, for different but overlapping client groups.
The proposed AS-level examinations are intended for young people following a traditional academic pathway 354W through A-levels with a view to higher education, and are intended to give greater breadth and balance to the sixth form curriculum.
The technical and vocational education initiative offers a pathway to young people of 14-plus of all abilities who are at that stage ready to undertake a vocationally orientated four-year course which may lead, as appropriate, to a variety of nationally recognised qualifications.
The proposed certificate for pre-vocational education is intended as a qualification for young people not undertaking the A-level route, who at 16 opt for a one-year full-time course and for whom pre-vocational study is most appropriate.
The youth training scheme offers those who leave full-time education at 16 or 17 and remain unemployed, and to some 16-year-olds in jobs, the opportunity of a year's planned work experience and training. The scheme is work-based and is designed to improve school leavers' chances of gaining jobs.
The Government aim to define standards of performance and to develop a system of certification which can be applied to both YTS and to pre-vocational courses in schools and further education.