To receive presentations from young people who study at Trafford College.

Anne Fernandes addressed the Committee and told them that the young people attending the meeting wanted to talk about the mind the skills gap campaign. Anne explained that the campaign looked to raise funds for colleges to provide high quality education to enable people to enter further education or to upskill to be able to enter the workforce. The aim was to develop a strategy which would result in fair and effective funding for courses in colleges across the country so people could access the education they needed. Anne stressed that under funding in post 16 education meant that there would be a lack of skills within the country to be able to do the jobs employers required of them.

Marry Anne O’Reilly provided the Committee with statistics on the number of students accessing college education and informed the Committee that the recent increase in enrolment had not been met with additional funding for colleges. Marry Anne asked the Committee to join the campaign for parity of esteem for colleges so that they aligned with Schools and Universities. Mary Anne spoke to the Committee about the value of a college education and how it allowed people to make mistakes and still be successful. Marry Anne informed the Committee of her own experience and how college education had helped her to find what she wanted to do.

Shami Ali Khan spoke to the Committee about the courses offered at Trafford college and how they could be utilised to help meet the skills gaps in the work force with social work qualifications being just one example. Shami informed the Committee how colleges focused upon the local community and helped young people gain the business and social skills needed for work. Shami told the Committee about the impacts of COVID and Brexit on the economy and how those events had changed the jobs that were available and needed within the economy. Shami spoke about how she was studying health but had also developed a wider set of skills around communication, teamwork, and project management through her studies.

[NOTE: Councillor Welton joined the meeting 18:45]

Ravi and Sam worked together to deliver their update to the Committee on social mobility. Ravi introduced the topic by speaking about social mobility and how young people gaining life skills helped them earn more and gain higher social status.

Sam added that studies had shown qualifications at level 2 gave people the chance to earn more money and the additional level of income increased further as a person went up to level 3. Sam then informed the Committee of what he had gained from completing a series of level two courses.

Ravi took over from Sam to speak about the advantages that further education gave to young people and how those from deprived areas who gained qualifications had the same skills as more advantaged young people.

Sam concluded their section by speaking about the reduction in college opportunities and how it was a disadvantage to young people and the community. 

Laura spoke to the Committee about the wider benefits of further education for individuals. Laura informed the Committee about her own experience and how studying at Trafford College had helped her develop as a person and build confidence which had led to her becoming a student leader within the college. Laura told the Committee about the other opportunities she had been able to take part in at as a student at Trafford College which included joining the debate club, football team, and other clubs. Laura shared with the Committee how taking part in those activities had helped her to develop personally as well as academically.

Toby told the Committee that she was aiming to be a barrister and how Trafford College was a steppingstone for her to move onto university. Being on the debate team had heled her to develop many skills which were important aspects of being a barrister such as thinking logically and quickly on her feet, speaking in public, and organising events across multiple sites. Toby spoke about the work she had undertaken as a student ambassador in support of the LGBTQ community and other causes. Toby finished by telling the Committee about how she felt all the experiences she had gained at Trafford College would help her to become the best Barrister the area had ever seen.

[NOTE: Councillor Zhi joined the meeting at 19:01]

Following the young people’s presentations Councillor Hynes stated that each of the young people could give each Councillor a run for their money. Councillor Hynes noted the point of the presentations about how further education was under funded and agreed that it was a concern. Councillor Hynes asked the young people if they had any ideas of how the Councillors could help convince people that the underfunding of further education was an issue that needed to be addressed. Sam responded to Councillor Hynes and shared his view that by sharing the statistics around what people with level 2 and level 3 qualifications were able to achieve compared to those who did not have those qualifications in terms of employability, increased earning power, and job creation.

Councillor New was blown away by what the young people had presented and their aspirations. Councillor New spoke about the issues she saw among young people within the area and asked what could be done to help motivate those young people to push forward and strive for additional qualifications. Anne Mary stated that young people should be told that it is alright to make mistakes and that there is more than one route to achieve what they want to do.

Sam added that having young people who had been through similar experiences would be helpful as they would be able to understand and inspire young people to continue. Sam pointed out that this could be done through community programmes and by using 1:2:1 mentoring.

Councillor Welton thanked the young people for their presentations and asked whether the cost of living was impacting what the young people chose to study or where they chose to live. Ravi responded that the cost-of-living crisis had made her look at the education that would lead to the most money rather than following her interests. Ravi informed the Committee that she had personally switched from archaeology to law because of financial considerations. Sam spoke about his experience of not knowing what to do and told the Committee that it was a conversation he had with a teacher that had inspired him to take on the courses and be part of the groups that he had rather than thoughts about money.

The Vice Chair thanked the young people and expressed how she was impressed by the number of young women among those attending and speaking about a subject that they were clearly passionate about. The Vice Chair encouraged them all to continue to be positive and to keep pushing themselves forward while supporting those around them. The Vice Chair hoped that they all went on to achieve what they wanted to and added that they should ensure that they enjoyed themselves and what they were doing.

Councillor Procter stated that she hoped to see at least one of the young people becoming councillors as young people like them were needed to share their lives and experiences to shape the political landscape. Councillor Procter discussed the career path that her husband had gone through, which was not a standard path and that they would probably find that their paths would likely not follow the route they expected them to, but that she was sure they would all be successful in whatever they did.

The Chair spoke about how four of her children had all attended Trafford College and had all enjoyed their time there. The Chair was please to see that all the young people in attendance appeared to be enjoying their time at Trafford College and were so passionate about what they were doing. The Chair stated that the young people would have multiple options in front of them and that she was certain that they were all confident enough to take the opportunities when they were presented with them. 

The Chair thanked the young people, Michelle, and her colleague Sharon who had arranged for the young people to attend the meeting.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Young People, Michelle, and Sharon be thanked for attending the meeting.

2)    That the updates from the young people be noted.