Beth Ward, aged 17, is currently on the Career Ready programme and a senior at Harris Academy in Dundee. Outside of the programme, she has a passion for reading history and politics. Here, she shares why she joined the Career Ready Youth Advisory Board.
As someone who is still in school and on the programme, I was inspired to join the Youth Advisory Board so I could help ensure that young people like me receive the support we need to deal with the challenges we face. As a young person, I believe I can bring unique insights into this and help improve the programme for future students.
One of the greatest challenges I think we face today is the lack of employment opportunities for young people. And this has been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. This makes it really hard to develop the skills and experience which businesses want on applications. There’s also no guarantee that getting a university degree is going to lead to a good job. So young people go to university with limited hope of graduating and getting a graduate level job, or they’re put off from going to university because they don’t have anything to aspire to. This can be especially for damaging for those of us who are less advantaged to start with.
I know from my own experience on the programme that Career Ready can play a part in helping young people to change that, by providing with the opportunities and support to develop key skills. And I’m looking forward to help become part of this change and see the impact we can make together as a youth board.
Find out more about our Youth Advisory Board.
