This template for success has jointly been produced by RNIB Scotland and Skills Development Scotland, and is supported by a wide range of other partners similarly committed to improving the employment and learning prospects of young people who are blind or partially sighted.
The challenge is clear. Whilst much good work is evident around
the country, two uncomfortable facts remain:
- blind and partially sighted people are fifteen times more
likely than average to be unemployed
- despite the interventions developed, there is no evidence of an
improvement in this statistic over the past decade or more.
A key part of the future challenge is to focus on early
intervention - improving the way young people who are blind and
partially sighted make the transition from school to positive and
sustained post-school labour market engagement.
We are aware of a range of positive developments in recent years
in Scotland which are advancing the prospects of all young people
in this respect - based both within and beyond the years of
compulsory education.
The challenge now is to ensure the opportunities arising from
these developments are maximised for our young people with sight
problems.
Our future vision is simple: that all young people in Scotland
who are blind or partially sighted have the opportunities available
to enable them to progress their work and learning aspirations as
successfully as any other young person who is making the journey
from the school to the post-school world.
There is simply no reason why so many fail to make a successful
transition; most want to work and have a tremendous amount to offer
employers. In the 21st Century we refuse to accept it is beyond our
collective capacity to do better. We think this template will
help.
If you wish to discusss the contents of the template in more
detail, or wish an input to your partnership meetings to enable a
wider group of stakeholders to be involved, please email us