Success of West Lothian further education project

Dec 31 2008 by Debbie Spalding, West Lothian Courier

AN innovative project is helping to boost the number of young people continuing their education beyond school.

The Journey to Employment (J2E) scheme, run by West Lothian College, West Lothian Council, West Lothian Youth Action Project and two local secondary schools, aims to encourage school pupils who risk falling out of education and becoming unemployed to remain in education or training.

In West Lothian, around one in 10 teenagers aged 16 to 19 is not in education, training or employment and the area has the fourth highest levels of young people in this category among all Scottish council areas.

J2E was piloted last term, with 26 pupils from Deans Community High School and Whitburn Academy taking part.

The pupils were selected to participate having been identified as being at risk of becoming disengaged, and the programme appears to be working, with all of the participating pupils choosing to remain in education or training this year.

The project has received positive feedback from the schools and pupils involved and, out of the participating pupils, 16 have enrolled full time at college, one has secured an apprenticeship with West Lothian Council and the rest have stayed at school.

Margaret Forisky, college/schools development officer at West Lothian College, said: “The fact that so many of the young people participating in the project are now either in education or employment is a fantastic outcome for everyone involved in the project and we are keen to push ahead with the next project to engage more pupils in learning and encourage them to continue their education beyond school.”

For more information on West Lothian College, please call 01506 418181 or visit www.west-lothian.ac.uk