NEETs falling through nets

It's just gone 6pm and my feet have not touched the ground today...meeting after meeting and not finished yet. Once more to go, Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre have asked me to join them at their committee meeting to discuss their recent visit from Marilyne Maclaren, Convenor of Children & Families. Obviously they are concerned her visit portended doom...I will be interested to hear their account of her visit.

Today I was at another local meeting looking at employment for local people. Much of the discussion centred on the situation for young people whose lives (and their community) are blighted because they are without training or employment. Sometimes I think we make it too complicated...it seems a relatively easy thing to ask schools to release the names of anybody aged 14-16 who is not attending school and who is at risk...then you assign them mentors who have the responsibility to engage with the young person either individually or in small groups. Instead we have large numbers of kids (I have asked to have the numbers quantified for North Edinburgh) who drop out and though huge effort is expended by many agencies, it is too late.

This is as frustrating for me now as it was when I was Education Convenor. I heard all about 20:20 and this strategy and that strategy...the point is, the kids are still falling through the net and we seem powerless to really do anything about it.