Britain must recession proof education and not allow apprenticeships to fall by the wayside during the economic downturn, Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg said today.

Speaking at the Association of Colleges annual conference, Nick Clegg called for action on education to ensure that the recession doesn’t mortgage the future of today’s teenagers and young adults.

Nick Clegg will said:

“Education is vital to ensure this recession doesn’t leave a poisonous legacy for today’s teenagers and young adults. Their life chances are already being sabotaged because they’re emerging from school, college or university into a stagnant job market.

“It’s clear that many people are being thrown off their apprenticeships because of the downturn. If we let apprenticeships fall by the wayside, young people will be paying for this recession for the rest of their working lives.

“The best education system is one with choice and diversity, where students of all backgrounds and ambitions can create a personalised education for themselves at a wide variety of high quality institutions.”

Responding to reports that Liberata, the company administering the Government’s Education Maintenance Allowance, is to be replaced, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: “Action by the Government on this issue is long overdue. The administration of the Education Maintenance Allowance has been an utter shambles and follows the earlier problems that the Education Department had with ETS, the contractor for the Key Stage tests.”

David Laws went on to say:

“Ed Balls must explain why the Government appears to have been employing contractors who haven’t displayed the basic competence to manage their responsibilities.

“This chaotic situation has led to real problems for many students. We urgently need to know who is going to take over the contract and how the Government is going to get back the money already paid to Liberata.”

According to a report from the National Audit Office, nearly a quarter of 11-year-olds are failing to reach the expected level in maths at the end of primary school.

Girls are falling behind boys and need particular attention. According to the report, a total of 34,000 (6%) of 11-year-olds have skills worse than the average seven-year-old. The report suggests the £200m-a-year drive to improve maths in primary schools is not succeeding as a result of teachers failing to spot children falling behind.

The National Audit Office warns that meeting a 2011 target of 85% of 11-year-olds making the grade in maths will be a “considerable challenge”. Last year 77% of pupils achieved the expected result for their age, in Sats.

Plans to target those at risk of falling behind with specialist and one-to-one teaching were already in place, but the report says that thousands of pupils are arriving at secondary school without the basic skills they need to progress. Only 3% of pupils who did not reach the expected performance level in maths and English by the end of primary school, achieved the government’s target of five GCSEs at A*-C including mathematics and English when they reached 16, the report says.

There are also gaps in achievement between boys and girls, children of different ethnicities and different socio-ecocomic groups. The report says: “Pupils from Chinese and Indian ethnic groups do consistently better than white pupils. Pupils from black African, black Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups do significantly less well, though the gap has narrowed in recent years.

“There is a very large gap in attainment between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. At key stage 2 the difference is currently 20 percentage points, with only a small narrowing of the gap over the past three years.”

Edward Leigh, the chairman of the committee of public accounts, said: “The bottom line is that improvements in mathematics results since 2000 have been unimpressive. And, most worrying of all, nearly a quarter of all primary school children are not reaching the levels they need to in basic maths before moving on to secondary school.”

According to the Telegraph, there has been an increase in the number of inadequate schools. 

An announcement is expected to be made this week in the chief inspector’s annual report.  It means that thousands of children are being let down by the state system despite expensive Government initiatives such as academy status and the National Challenge, that aim to  to improve attainment in struggling schools where fewer than 30 per cent of pupils achieve five good GCSEs.

A detailed analysis by The Sunday Telegraph reveals that the number of schools judged to be failing or displaying significant weaknesses has increased from 10 per cent last year to nearly 12 per cent in 2007/8.

Michael Gove, the shadow children’s secretary, said: “I am deeply concerned that far too many pupils are still in schools that should be doing better. After massive spending and more centralisation and regulation, we still do not have the improvement in education that children and parents deserve.”

Figures supplied by Ofsted show that at the end of the spring term, 147 secondaries were either in special measures or had been served with a notice to improve. School reports from the summer term show that another 25 schools fell into these categories, while 35 schools had improved enough not to need further monitoring, but as there may be struggling secondaries that are waiting to receive an inspection, the overall number in inadequate schools is likely to be even higher.

THE Department of Children, Schools and Families today announced that North East Lincolnshire will receive £30million over 14 years to renew the borough’s primary schools.

Through the Primary Capital Programme the Government has committed to renew at least half of all primary school buildings by 2022-2023. The aim is to create primary schools that are equipped for 21st century teaching and learning, and are at the heart of their communities with children’s services in reach of every family.

North East Lincolnshire Council produced a Primary Strategy for Change which has been approved today enabling them to receive funding from 2009/10.

The aims of the Primary Capital Programme are to deliver quality school environments that facilitate personalised learning and deliver high standards and first-class facilities so pupils can study in a way that suits them; facilities that equip schools to play a part in the Every Child Matters agenda; and quality learning environments that enhance teachers’ flexibility.

The DCSF has indicated an expected outcome for North East Lincolnshire to rebuild or take out of use 15% of primary schools (seven schools) and to improve 35% of schools (17 schools) by the end of the programme. It is also intended that investment through the Primary Capital Programme will enable a step change in the level of ICT provision in primary schools.

The programme comes at an ideal time for North East Lincolnshire’s schools following an earlier decision to amalgamate 22 infant and junior schools and the ensuing investment of £14million in the primary estate.

The programme will also offer the context for professional development in teaching and change management that will enable us to radically rework how teachers teach and learners learn.

Conservative confusion means that a generation of 16-18 year olds could be criminalised for not staying in school, the Liberal Democrats said today.

 The Government’s Education and Skills Bill will make it a criminal offence for young people to refuse to stay on in some sort of education until they are 18. Conservative confusion on the Bill  meant that they did not support Liberal Democrat attempts to remove the criminal offence and put in a right to study. Instead they said they would not implement the proposals.

The Liberal Democrats have secured a review of how the criminal penalties are working two years after the policy is implemented along with other significant concessions from the Government on the Bill including:

•  Ensuring young people will not be imprisoned for leaving education before turning 18;
• A duty on schools to listen to children of all ages;
• Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education included in the National Curriculum
• A package of support from Local Authorities to remove the barriers to study for 16 to 18s.

Commenting before final debate on the Bill, Baroness (Joan) Walmsley, Liberal Democrat Spokeswoman for Education said:

“This is not a complicated issue. The Conservatives could have helped defeat the Government by simply joining us in attempting to give the over-16s the choice in how and when they continue their education.

“Instead they tied themselves up in knots and allowed the Government’s damaging provisions to sail through.

“The Government claims these powers will not be used against children but, if that’s the case, why do they need the powers at all? Our review will prove whether their claims are well-founded.

“It is a relief the Government have conceded that young people should not be imprisoned for not continuing in education or training.

“Ministers should be concentrating on giving young people high quality choices and taking away the barriers to learning rather than giving them a criminal record. Our Learning and Support Packages, to which the Government has now agreed, will help to do that” 

Grimsby has become closer to becoming a university town now that the planning committee have unanimously backed a £150-million project to build a new look institute and university centre, with construction dueto begin in February.

Institute bosses said that the granting of planning permission by North East Lincolnshire Council planning committee will create “a world class and dynamic education and skills facility” along with construction jobs and sixty new teaching jobs.

The number of staff employed will increase to 831, and will make it possible for the new site to house more than 20,000 students.

Professor Daniel Khan OBE, principal and chief executive of the Grimsby Institute described the decision as “a once in a lifetime opportunity”.

GRIMSBY is one step closer to becoming a university town.

Planners have unanimously backed a £150-million project to build a new look institute and university centre – giving the green light for construction to begin in February.

Institute bosses said the go-ahead from North East Lincolnshire Council planning committee will create “a world class and dynamic education and skills facility” – and 60 new teaching jobs.

The staff roll will increase to 831, enabling the centre to house a student roll of more than 20,000.

Professor Daniel Khan OBE, principal and chief executive of the Grimsby Institute described the decision as “a once in a lifetime opportunity”.He said: “The development will see the creation of a dedicated university centre, which will encourage young people in particular to stay in the area by meeting their higher educational needs locally.

“This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will enable us to build a facility that meets the needs of learners and employers in the 21st century.”

Gaining planning approval was a pre-requisite of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funding.

The floor space of the five-storey-high new-look institute, planned for Nuns Corner will almost increase in size by 13,000 sq metres to 50,000 sq metres.

Education chiefs aim to build plumbing and electrical workshops, sports and leisure facilities, engineering workshops, a refectory, a theatre, children’s nursery and multi-purpose floodlit sports pitch.

The proposed south block’s ground floor will house hair and beauty salons and training kitchens, with the rest of the floors dedicated to teaching and recreation areas.

Car parking will be increased from 729 spaces to 860.

Access will be from a new road to be built off Nuns Corner Roundabout to the site, as well as the existing entrance at Bargate and exits to Laceby Road and Hereford Avenue.

Institute deputy principal, Ray Ellis said the current sixties-built and inefficient Institute building would be replaced by a new sustainable college powered by bio-fuels.

Original plans for two 15-metre wind turbines to power the centre were withdrawn after opposition from residents.

The build will take three years.

GRIMSBY Institute has been given the planning permission for a new £150-million building by a unanimous vote at a meeting of the planning committee earlier today, which will prepare for Grimsby to become a university town.

The new institute building will be the centre of a £200-million Learning Village which will include Franklin College and Hereford Technology College, as well as the Nuns Corner site.

Institute deputy principal Ray Ellis said: “It will be an integrated partnership campus with world-class learning facilities.”

He added: “This is the first step to Grimsby becoming a dedicated university town.”

Work on the new larger-sized college is expected to begin in February, and will bring much needed jobs into the area  in, and should also provide at least sixty more teaching jobs.

The new University will also provide improved opportunities for young people in the area to continue their education without leaving the area.

School pupils should be kept in school grounds during lunch breaks to stop them eating unhealthy take-away food, the Schools Secretary Ed Balls has said.

Mr Balls says that there is little point in banning junk food inside school, if pupils then eat it outside school.

This will not be a compulsory requirement, but Mr Balls says he will back heads trying to impose a policy of not allowing pupils out during the day.

He also wants councils to limit the number of take-aways near schools.

Mr Balls is set to address the Healthy Eating in Schools Conference in London - where he will claim that “the corner has been turned” on improving the quality of school meals.