Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

BBC

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

I hope they have to attend the whole course before claiming said ipod.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

my thoughts exactly.

it's sad that local councils/government feel the need to bribe teenagers into having a future.....

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

:(

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

erm
Looks like being at school can be very profitable these days :erm:

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

this actually reminds me of the scheme that was piloted in which the local gov. paid students to do their a-levels... i.e gave them a wage to do it

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This is absolutely ludicrous! There is no excuse for this, this is bribery. The only thing driving them should be themselves and their own aspirations, not a bloody iPod :mad: Spot on when it says that children are going to grow up acquainted to the logic where things only get done if there is a 'sweetner' at the end. What kind of youngsters do the government expect to enter the world of work? Ones who will be lazy and expect everything given to them with minimal application of their own effort. This is the very kind of thing that, in my opinion, causes the chav nation.

Similar thing at my college where some students get £500 bonuses if they put effort into their course and hand their coursework in on time. Again, I believe this is not preparing them for real life and independance. As for the other students, what incentive do they have? None at all, but, to me it's a part of growing up, about learning to be independant and to be self motivated. And of course, it's totally unfair to those who have no such incentive. :mad: :td:

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

i think with the reward scheme thing... i.e. giving them money, in some obscure way the government thinks it is teaching people that you have to work to get paid, and trying to get them to concentrate on their education rather than working part time. the problem is that working part time teaches you other essential skills for when you enter the world of work full time. it gives you an appreciation of money and earning it yourself and it also builds on the socialisation of school. for example, keeping good time and respecting those of authority.

the people who are going to get the bonus' are hopefully the people who will work hard anyway but i guess you'd never know.

in a way it's a bit like when parents promise rewards for exam results. which both puts pressure on the kids and brings them into the mindframe of always expecting a reward for hard work, which we all know in the wrk place doesn't always (if ever) happen

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It's even more annoying when you think about how many schools are struggling to fund their classes and buy proper equipment.
I thought the government wanted to encourage kids to stay in school? Paying the kids that left school and couldn't find work £50 a week, plus a bonus and an IPod will not be much encouragement for the kids that chose to stay in education and who receive little to no funding while they are there.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

£170 for an ipod? Where they picking them up from then?!

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

Probably only getting the low capacity ones Amazon but that's more than they should be getting to be honest. The course is to get them into work, the only bonus they should be looking for at the end of it is a job or a good chance of a job due to skills that they have learned. £50 for one days work a week isn't bad :(

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

Which should have all been taught at school in my opinion, especially the first aid. Still can't for the life of me see why they can't find 40 hours in the NC over 11+ years to teach basic first aid. :(

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

Em... Why shouldn't they be paid for their time?

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If you are referring to the EMA, I know quite a few people who this helps, it is not a incentive it is meant to remove any financial limitations to people who require it. College is sometime expensive with lunch and bus fares as well as the fact there have decided to forgo earning money and instead improve their education

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but part time jobs don't necessarily infringe on their education, when i studied for my a levels i worked on friday nights and saturdays for a supermarket... it didn't effect my school work at all, i still came out with high grades

in fact the only time working part time effected my education was when i was at uni, and since my parents couldn't afford to pay for my house, food etc, i had to work longer hours... and still pay the uni fees..... it also means i'm in debt with the gov, for £13k + ...maybe they should pay us to go to uni;)

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

I did an NVQ about 8 years ago. I got a bonus of a few hundred pounds for completing that.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

If it gets these kids off the dole and into paid employment where they are paying tax then it's sound investment imho. £170 is about 4 weeks unemployment benefit.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

It may be they are trying to break the cycle not working produces. However I would say any part time work has to be beneficial in terms of experience, and always helps when looking for full time work.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

Here's me, muggins, worked hard in school, went to university, worked hard there, left university, got a job, and I work hard at that, and I have to pay for my own MP3 player.

These lazy (only word for it, if they need an incentive to improve themselves to get a job.) idiots do none of the hard work, and get freebies from the government.

It wouldn't be so bad if it was merely a free course for anyone who was having trouble finding a job. To bribe people to find jobs is just out of order.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

I think they should only get the IPOD if the end result is they end up in paid employment and hold down the job - after say 12months then they get the reward. I'm all for rewards and incentives as long as they are a reasonable use of tax payers money!

Did I miss read something or are they also being paid £50 for 1 day a week attendance? plus £100 bonus at the end of it! why why why!!!

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

The thing is that they already do get a reward.

They go to school/college/uni.

They get an education.

They get off their ar*es and get a job.

They work for a month.

At the end of the month they get a "reward" for their month's work (I like to call it a pay cheque).

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

Mind you when I back to uni, we were given bursaries to help us, but to give kids i-pods to go and find work is such a waste of our hard earned dosh.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

I may well be wasting my breath here but since the story has created excitement, I must point out, being in the FE college business myself, that Bournemouth & Poole College like every other FE college is an independent entity, an independent corporation, and not governed or controlled directly as some assume of government or local councils.

There are two ways of looking at this initiative as firstly, a brave attempt to attract more youth to college to study worthwhile subjects, which hopefully will contribute to improving their lives, get them off the streets and show them that an FE college is not like the boring schools they may have known in the past.

The second view is shock horror, I'm tempted to suggest given the kind of idiot who finds himself a college principal against all logic what would you expect!

But in the end surely it is an idea, if it has a chance of persuading otherwise idle youth they have a role to play in society then fine I'm all in favour of it. I'm now scrutinsing the TES job pages to see if the principle of Bournemouth & Poole College is offering newly appointed lecturers BMWs or Jaguars, if so I'm very interested!



:D

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

Good point.

Also, of course, whilst they're *doing* the course they will not qualify for Job Seekers Allowance etc and thus will not be a drain on the taxpayer.

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Presumably if the course was actually any good they wouldn't need to resort to bribery.

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Only if they are in full time education would they lose the job-seekers allowance. If the course is part-time they can still claim job-seekers as long as they are below a set number of hours and can provide proof that they are applying for jobs too.

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I would love an I-pod, and I went to one of these indpenent colleges to do my A-levels, but I thought they thought more about student numbers than anything?

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If you're "not available for work" for more than 16 hours a week (and that includes doing "training") then you don't get JSA.

Given that they'll spend a day at work (ie probably 8 hours) it only needs two half days etc elsewhen during the week for them to lose the benefits.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

Doesn't the £50 a week they get for the work disqualify them from JSA as well?

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

But as I pointed out before, this is aimed at those students whose family income is very low and are the ones who are most likely to give up on college because just finding all the funds to get to and from college,buy stationary and some equipment can be hard for their family.I've forgotten the lower cut off point to pick up £30 per week though. :)

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

No, but every pound you earn over (I think it's five quid, or, at least, that used to be the figure) is deducted pound-for-pound off your benefits.

Which is really stupid because it gives you no incentive to get any work, but that's another discussion!

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

So, the bottom line appears to be that these people are marginally better off (but presumably have to make some costs as well), and get an ipod thrown in after spending 14 weeks doing things that will get them off their back sides and will improve their prospects. That doesn't sound bad to me...

I know, and it's not an easy one, as the more incentive you give people to get work, the less incentive you give people on low salaries to stay in work. But, as you say, that's another discussion.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

I don't believe that most people are thinking about the students that are getting absolutely *BUGGAR ALL* financial incentive at this age. People like me.

Apparently the government don't think it's right that I get anything because 'my mum and dad earn too much'. Yet I get NO money or bonus like that, the only thing I get is £30 a week for meals etc off my parents. Any extra money for like clothes has to be got from a job by me. And the only reason my mum and dad 'earn so much' is that they are continously working and I mean they work ridiculous hours. They admit it's a struggle to keep me going at college, and they are at the income level where the tax level really does start to kick in. And the thought that this tax money is going to buy students bloody iPods in order to keep them going on a basic skills course, well, I think it's quite sickening really.
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The £30 a week is one thing. The £500 extra bonus/ iPod is another. Completely unfair to only give such incentives to only a few students.

Re: Why not just pay them to breathe?
 

if this is a ladder for council house kids to get away from spending the summer riding quad bykes around town or trail bykes or nickin' stuff then I think it's worth doing. it's a small price to pay to get them making gainful use of their time.

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All I can say is that I enrolled on the wrong course :D I attend this college on a daily basis. To be honest, they can't even afford decent IT equipment for those of us on an IT COURSE so how they can find money to give away IPods, I dunno.

My group got kicked out of a room and it got refurbished for the HAIRDRESSERS with 3GHz HT PCs, 512MB of RAM, Windows XP. We're stuck with 733MHz Pentium 3s, 64MB RAM, Windows NT 4 :(