On Monday the Times reported that parents are being asked by schools to subsidise work experience placements by paying around £50 or more for the opportunity, with an additional fee for placements in London. Following the government's decision to drop compulsory work experience for 14- to 16-year-olds last year, parents are now picking up the bill for risk assessments and admin associated with placements.
Placing a financial burden on parents seems not only unfair, but also likely to enforce social imbalances in the classroom and the workplace. Asking parents to pay a higher fee for placements that are further afield imposes a barrier that many young people and their parents will not be able to overcome. While students from wealthy families might score their dream placement in a big company in London, others will get left behind, stuck with a limited choice of local businesses in which to work.
If organised properly, work placements can be great experiences for young people. When I was 15 I did work experience at a local jewellery shop as part of a school requirement. It was my first experience in a working environment, and I loved it. I came back to school with a newfound confidence and love of jewellery-making.
After the placement I went on to get a Saturday job there, which I kept for three years. Many of my peers had similar experiences in which work placements became a first job, and it was in this job that I learnt the meaning of work and earning my own money.
Although I did not expect to be paid on the actual placement (where I was just observing what went on), it gave me the important experience that then led me into employment. That first job taught me that I have a value: I still have a photocopy of my first pay cheque. By telling young people and their parents to pay for these experiences we are setting them up to undervalue what they have to offer.
Work experience placements can be incredibly beneficial, and doing them while at school and still living with parents is perhaps the perfect time to get a glimpse of the working world without the worry of how to pay your rent. But making them the financial responsibility of parents sends out the wrong messages – messages that are hard to undo later in life. It makes young people believe from an early age that they should be willing to pay for these kinds of experiences, and it tells parents that it is their duty to support their children while they do so. For struggling families these additional costs could come as a real burden, a burden that risks splitting a class into those who can, and those who can't.
Perhaps change is on its way. Labour is reportedly working on a proposal to reinstate compulsory work experience in schools, in a bid to better equip young people with the professional skills to get them into the workplace. I believe that quality work experience placements are a great thing, and that they should be part of our curriculum. When done fairly they give school pupils invaluable professional experience, confidence and can lead them into employment. But just don't make the parents catch the costs. Because in the end it is the children who pay.