‘Open doors’ for poorer youngsters

In a speech to the Sutton Trust yesterday, the Labour leader called for action to open up the “closed circles” in elite professions and make it easier for disadvantaged children to go to university.

But he also attacked the “snobbery” which suggests only an academic education is worthwhile, insisting the UK must give more respect and value to vocational learning and apprenticeships.

“Social mobility must not be just about changing the odds that young people from poor backgrounds will make it to university,” the Doncaster North MP said.

“That really matters – but we also have to improve opportunities for everyone, including those who don’t go to university.

“We must reject the snobbery that says the only route to social mobility runs through university, as if only one kind of pathway to success matters.

“In Germany, middle-class parents boast about their kids doing great apprenticeships. But in Britain, too often people think that if they don’t go to university, they are written off by society.

“We must have a better offer to those young people.”

His speech was immediately criticised by Ministers, however, who pointed to Labour’s own record in power and questioned what Mr Miliband would actually do to solve the problem.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “In over 2,000 words, Ed Miliband failed to suggest a single new policy idea to boost social mobility.

“Ed Miliband says there isn’t enough social mobility. We agree, which is why we are turning failing schools into academies and introducing free schools and the pupil premium.

“Ed Miliband says vocational alternatives aren’t good enough. They weren’t under him, which is why we are making assessment more robust and ensuring the qualifications are world class.

“When his party was in power, hundreds of thousands of children were pushed into dead-end courses with little value, which is why so many failed to find work.”

In a speech today Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will announced plans to publish an annual snapshot of social mobility in Britain, designed to expose the stark gaps in life chances.

Officials will ramp up monitoring of individuals from soon after birth until well into adulthood to hold a flame to the coalition’s feet until the chasm closes, he will say.

The raft of new trackers will measure Government progress in making society fairer by charting children’s development.

It will be the first time that any government in the world has published such information, according to the Cabinet Office.

The Sheffield Hallam MP will say: “These are challenging times but that doesn’t mean we can give up on making society fairer and helping people get on in life.

“In the past year, since we published the Government’s first social mobility strategy, we’ve made great progress – schoolchildren are benefiting from a cash injection through the Pupil Premium, young people are getting into jobs and training through the Youth Contract, and we’re expanding the number of families who get free childcare.

“We must create a more dynamic society. One where what matters most is the person you become, not the person you were born.

“Government cannot do this alone, but we must take the lead. So we’re exposing the stark gaps in life chances by publishing a wide range of tracking data to show how well society is doing here and now.”