Voices is the Dorset Echo's weekly youth page, written for young people by young people. If you would like to write an article for Voices please email alex.cutler@dorsetecho.co.uk

SINCE the minimum school leaving age has been extended, young adults have been coerced into staying in education for better or worse.

Due to rising competition in professional fields, it is usually vital to have a degree, which is something that not everyone can afford.

Young adults need to work and gain experience in the trade that they would like, to build experience of real work to understand the importance of education and what route could be best for them.

Instead of doing a five day week at a sixth form college, a-level students should be given the opportunity to be able to do one day a week minimum of useful work experience, as this could possibly be more beneficial to their futures than copying out of a textbook.

This work experience should also be paid – the worker may be young but that doesn’t mean that they should be subject to exploitation.

This also means that they can have an experience of money, and students of low-income families can have more financial freedom, reducing social pressures.

This would result in higher rates of attendance because students have the opportunity to earn money in a way which will help them in the future.

Overall this improves student’s prospects leading to higher rates of employment in professional careers, reducing homelessness.

By James Sullivan