The £2 billion Kickstart Scheme scheme has been designed to ensure young people at risk of long term unemployment have a future of opportunity and hope by creating quality, government-subsidised jobs across the UK, helping to spur the country’s economic recovery after the Coronavirus pandemic. The Kickstart scheme for schools and nurseries could offer a much needed helping hand.
The education sector has been hit hard by the pandemic. Whilst all us parents are still somewhat traumatised by the home schooling experience we all begrudgingly embraced, it certainly raised our awareness as to how much teachers do. As the majority of us were jumping for joy when the education sector welcomed our children back, this in itself presented problems for schools and nurseries, with lateral flow test results changing staff rotas overnight.
The general consensus is that adjusting to the impact of Coronavirus for the education sector has been a real struggle and the new government Kickstart scheme will come as welcome news and an opportunity to ease the strain. The scheme could help recruit teaching assistants, business administrators, and other support staff to manage the impact of Coronavirus. It will also give young people the opportunity to gain valuable work experience, achieve new qualifications, boost their career prospects and earn a wage.
The placements have a duration of 6 months, working 25 hours a week, with staff paid at the National Minimum Wage entirely funded by the government. That includes National Insurance payments and Pension Contributions. With no expectation of an offer of a permanent position at the end of the 6 months, the scheme is all about giving young people valuable work experience and helping them become more employable.
Kickstart promises access to a large pool of young people and an opportunity to provide much needed resource to schools, colleges and nurseries. It also promises a much needed opportunity for young people to get paid exposure to working in the education sector.
You can discover more about the Kickstart Scheme here or if you are looking to take advantage of the Kickstart scheme for schools and nurseries and want to find out more information, please contact us here.
