Plans to encourage young people to stay in education or training have been welcomed by the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS). Children, schools and families secretary, Ed Balls, announced a series of interim measures this week to encourage young people to stay on at school or join training programmes. The proposals include making the education maintenance allowance to all young people taking entry to employment courses and to create 90,000 more apprenticeships by 2013. ‘It's a welcome move,' said ADCS joint president, John Coughlan. ‘We know there will be challenges around it, but's a positive and necessary step. It seems to me that it's not about forcing 17-year-olds to sit in classrooms. It's about making sure there is a coherent approach to skilling up young people. ‘If we don't take the steps that were outlined, then we will have severe economic challenges ahead, and we will blight the future of our young people.' The proposals were condemned by both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Liberal Democrat spokesman, David Laws, said it was ‘typical of PM Gordon Brown's nanny-knows-best approach'.
