We spoke to Hubbers Revolution Hive, a social enterprise that equips young people for life beyond the classroom to find out how they are supporting decent work through the work that they do. Here’s what they said:

For us we always want to see an increase in two things that we consistently measure.
(a) an increase in students overall self motivation & willingness to LEARN and
(b) an increase in their preparedness for real life.

 

Both of these things lead to an increased chance of a student getting decent work when they leave school. However, by far the biggest barrier we’ve seen to decent work for all is solution vs system thinking.

 

As a company, we are not doing anything dramatic or new. Most people agree the education curriculum is missing a lot of things that creates well rounded, critical thinkers. That there’s more they wished they learned in school in relation to real world challenges. That’s why we focus on teaching 9-25 year olds the personal, social & global topics they need to master to succeed in the real world. We cover everything from gender equality, confidence building, growth mindset & more through one-off enrichment days and longer term programmes for higher impact. Headteachers across the UK support our work & champion our approach.

 

However, those who need this kind of intervention most, are often denied the opportunity to build this cultural capital because we have to do what gets young people the academic grades they need, over what builds character & soft skills. There’s a massive pressure to deliver results based on grades, and a virtually non existent budget (most of the time) for “enrichment/PSHE” type topics. Yet, it is often these topics which give students a head start over their peers when it comes to the world of work.

 

Right now we actually have a waiting list of schools who really want to use our proven intervention, but lack the funding to pay for it. So we need more funding from government, local businesses and people if we’re serious about creating a significant shift to give more people the soft skills needed to get them into decent work.”

The route towards decent work, at least for Revolution Hive starts with education. So what can we do to ensure that the needs of future generations are being met? Do we need a complete overhaul of the current education system in the UK? And if so, what models do you look towards for inspiration? It’s a big topic, and we’d love to hear your thoughts.