Alan Milburn suggests that primary schools should be asked to spot children at risk of future unemployment (Primary schools to be told to identify children at risk of future unemployment, 7 August). Intervening early makes sense. Children who miss a lot of school do tend to drift away from it later, and waiting until someone is 18 and out of work is obviously too late.
But there is a difference between spotting what a child needs and deciding what they will become. An 11-year-old should not end up with a label attached to their name – “likely future Neet” – because poverty, absence or a difficult home life puts them in the wrong council or government file. Use those signs to offer tutoring, mentoring and proper support, by all means. Just record the help a child needs, not the failure we expect from them.
