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The 2013 Youth Select Committee will embark on a new inquiry into the role of the education system and the national curriculum in equipping young people with the skills for later life. The inquiry will look at the support currently available in schools to develop young people's 'life skills' such as personal finance, political education and cultural awareness.

The Youth Select Committee (YSC) is a British Youth Council initiative, supported by the House of Commons. The eleven committee members are aged 15-18 and include two Members of the UK Youth Parliament (MYPs), two youth councillors, the Young Mayor of Bristol, one elected representative from each of the devolved nations and three reserved seats for groups who may be otherwise under-represented.

Natasha Browne, Chair of the Youth Select Committee (18, MYP for Solihull), said:"It's important that young people get the right support to equip us with the skills to be successful in later life. Schools are the focus of young people's lives and, as a Committee, we look forward to hearing what people have to say about the role of the education system in equipping young people with skills for life".

The Youth Select Committee will look at the following issues as part of its inquiry:

  • The responsibility of the education system to equip young people with 'life skills' such as political education, personal finance and cultural awareness.
  • The current state of 'life skills' provision in schools.
  • The support currently available for teachers to deliver lessons and programmes on life skills.
  • Whether the school education system gets the balance right between academia and 'life skills'.
  • Whether the teaching of 'life skills' should lie within core subjects or as a separate part of the curriculum?
  • How much involvement young people have in shaping the Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) and citizenship curriculum.
  • How PSHE and citizenship teaching is implemented differently in schools.
  • What the UK government can learn from others about the teaching of "life skills" to young people.

The Committee call for evidence closes on 4thJune and the YSC will hold oral evidence sessions in the House of Commons in June and July 2013.

The Committee's has a clear mandate to focus on 'A Curriculum for Life', the issue having been voted as the priority campaign of the UK Youth Parliament at their annual House of Commons debate in November 2012.

Committee members

Evidence gathering process

Contact details

2012 Youth Select Committee

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