Letter: Obliging the unemployed to train without obliging society to provide them with jobs
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: The debate about 'workfare' is ignoring one group of unemployed people who are trying to improve their employability - by studying in further education colleges while still claiming benefit under the DSS regulations. How ironic it is that this group is the one that suffers constant pressure from the Social Security system. Indeed, jobless people are often forced to withdraw from courses in order to prove that they are still 'available for work' - work that either does not exist, or is unskilled and temporary.
A major contribution to increasing the motivation of unemployed people, and raising the skills levels of the workforce, would be made if we encouraged people who have been unemployed for a considerable time to enrol without loss of benefit on courses (limited, perhaps, to one year or less) to improve their qualifications; and allowed them to complete the course without harassment.
Yours sincerely,
ADRIAN PERRY
Principal, Lambeth College
London, SE27
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments