A degree with no debt that could lead to a £60,000-a-year job. What's not to like? That's Andy Burnham's pitch to the thousands of young people in Greater Manchester who don't want to go to university.
Almost two-thirds of teenagers in the city-region leave school without GCSEs in English, maths, science, humanities and a language.
But rather than pushing them to study the subjects that make up the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and pursue the path to university, the mayor wants to create an alternative.
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The Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc) would offer a route into the creative and digital sectors as well as health, social care and construction jobs. English and maths would still be a requirement, but so would computer science or ICT.
Other options would include engineering, creative subjects such as art, drama and music, and the sciences. This more flexible qualification could then lead to apprenticeships, T-Levels or even a degree with costs covered by employers.
Education bosses and business leaders who have backed the proposal claim that the technical education route can lead to well-paid jobs in the fast growing creative, digital and tech sectors. However, some have said that creating a new qualification would not help break down the barriers in the education system which young people from working class backgrounds face.
Manchester-based charity RECLAIM has argued that this path would be a 'dead end' if the pay, conditions and security of the jobs on offer once completed do not match those of the professions dominated by middle class graduates. The organisation which supports young working class people has also raised concerns about about 'forcing' 14-year-olds to make career choices.
Nevertheless, Mr Burnham has argued the MBacc would offer a 'clear path in life' for all young people in Greater Manchester while helping fill skills gaps in the workforce. And he has called for an end to the 'snobbery' which looks down at technical education as a 'second class' option, saying that both routes should be deemed 'equal'.
"The technical route actually leads to the same destination, not one of lesser worth," he said. "It can lead to a degree qualification and actually without debt if you do a degree apprenticeship and you've got that employer support."
It comes months after Greater Manchester's leaders signed a new devolution deal with the government, giving the mayor more influence over post-16 education. Mr Burnham now wants to launch the MBacc by September 2024.
He says Greater Manchester will work with the Department for Education (DfE) through a new joint board created as part of the 'trailblazer' deal. But work is already under way with schools and colleges backing the proposal.
In fact, one school in Moss Side already offers its own MBacc. Manchester Academy principal James Eldon says the scheme was set up to signpost students for whom the 'straightforward' EBacc was not the best option.
"Lots of students don't want to do that academic route," he said. "We don't insist on either. It's an options process. What we're always about is giving parents and children as much information as they can to make a choice on."
Anna Dawe, who is the principal and CEO of Wigan and Leigh College, explains that the qualifications which make up the MBacc already exist. But with such a 'vast' array of choices, the technical education system can be 'confusing' to navigate.
However, as the chair of the Greater Manchester College Group who has worked in the sector for 25 years, she says the 'tide is beginning to turn' with more students seeking other opportunities aside from studying at university.
"They're asking how they can do things without getting the same amount of debt," she said. "Students don't necessarily always want to move away and go for three years of study."
Speaking to education and business leaders on Wednesday (May 17), Mr Burnham said the work to simplify the technical education route has already started with the launch of GMACS – an online portal to help find opportunities. But he says the system is still 'confusing' and 'fragmented'.
He promised his proposal would not be 'dumbing down' the EBacc, saying that there is 'no compromise' on including English and Maths in his alternative. But the contents of the MBacc are still up for consideration with business studies, economics, humanities, languages, literature and PE all potential options.
Once set up, the Labour mayor hopes all 14-year-olds would choose either the EBacc or the MBacc route. He questioned the government's target for 90 pc of young people to leave school with an EBacc, explaining that he would not want to dictate how many teenagers choose to take one path or another.
"There's a lot of young people and a lot of schools in Greater Manchester crying out for something else," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. "I think we all, as a country, have to move away from the notion that it's right to let the university route dominate the education system.
"University is right for a lot of young people. It was right for me. I wouldn't want to take that opportunity away from anyone growing up in Greater Manchester.
"I've got five brilliant universities here and they contribute so much to life in Greater Manchester. But I think even they would accept that the university route is not right for everybody – and actually people on the technical route could end up at university."
Greater Manchester's leaders have long argued that having more influence over education is crucial to economic growth. It comes as 68 pc of the 3,000 businesses surveyed by the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce said they struggle to recruit staff with many young people lacking basic IT skills.
Mr Burnham told the audience at Manchester's HOME arts centre that the city-region is the fastest-growing digital and tech hub in Europe. However, he warned that local leaders cannot be complacent if they want to keep this up.
His comments were echoed by Mo Isap, the CEO and founder of IN4 Group which runs innovation hubs at Salford's MediaCity and beyond. He told the audience of the many opportunities in the tech sector, claiming that a mid-level position paying a salary of £60,000 can be attained within two years.
Responding to the proposal, RECLAIM has said that the MBacc would not 'fix the education system' which currently 'fails working class young people'.
Head of campaigns, Katie Shaw said that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds face many barriers that put them 'on the backfoot'. She argued that further education is 'chronically underfunded' and this must be fixed first.
"It's exciting that it's been talked about and it'll be trialled in Manchester," she said. "But the routes don't matter unless you address the inequality in them."
The charity has also raised concerns about 'forcing' young people to make career choices at the age of 14. However, education bosses have said that young people already have to make choices about their studies in Year 9.
Mr Burnham said he cannot 'fix the education system', but he does want to make it work better for everybody in Greater Manchester. He guaranteed that the Our Pass scheme, which offers young people free bus travel, will continue.
And he argued that giving young people 'a sense of equal worth' would 'lift the aspirations' of working class kids across Greater Manchester. "We've got to end the snobbery that says students not on the university route are somehow second class," he said.
"That has got to end. It leads to the unequal country we've got at the moment."
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