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Youth Challenge final year ends on a high, but what next for the H&I region? Youth Challenge Archive Effort v Reward"Everythink that can be invented has been invented"YouTube Youth ChallengeLast years winning teamThe winning idea Index by - 12:38 on 14 July 2009 The end is also the beginning….. The ICT Youth Challenge programme has now ended and over the past 7 years has made a significant impact on the Highlands and Islands region in terms of influencing young people to think about becoming entrepreneurs. The programme was founded on the market failure rational that the H&I region was loosing a large number of youngsters each year to the central belt who move away to attend University but instead of returning to the region they find employment opportunities elsewhere.
The H&I region doesn’t have the perceived opportunities for graduates on the scale of other Scottish regions and this poses a significant threat to the regions future growth.
The programmes strength was undoubtedly in the calibre of sponsors who supported the programme both in terms of prizes and key staff time to work with the regions future stars. HIE, BT Scotland, Microsoft and latterly UHI provided some great prizes for the participants which exposed them to the very best in the world of innovation. In reality it isn’t until several years after a prize visit that the youngsters actually fully appreciate the opportunity.
So what now?
After 7 years the programme has had an impact. It is nearly impossible to accurately measure it, but we do know that youngsters who participated in the competition attribute a number of positive outcomes to the programme, including:
- increased confidence,
- career choice,
- interpersonal skills,
- awareness of how to start a business
- motivation to work for themselves
- desire to return to the region
In view of these successes the obvious question is why is the programme no longer being delivered? Well the justification is robust although it may not seem entirely logical to the average innovative youngster. Policies and strategies evolve, funding requirements change and in the current climate enterprise in education needs to be very focussed and must also achieve more for less. Specifically:
- Schools have many demands on their time, future ‘products’ need to cater for a wider audience and fit with the curriculum for excellence. That’s not to say YC didn’t fit, but it does suggest that the focus required is broader than simply ICT
- Funding is always an issue with these things as they never cease to require support from the same sources e.g. public sector, because despite numerous years of YC there will be little measurable evidence of market adjustment – because the addressable task is huge!
Something new will be developed but will be very different and loose much of the features that were successful about YC, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be as successful in its own right as the objectives that must be addressed in 2010 are different to those in 2003 when the YC started.
Advice from experienced heads…..
After 7 years it is logical that the YC delivery team have learnt a few things about what works and what doesn’t. So its reasonable to share the exec summary here:
Future engagements must:
- not forget who the customer really is – it’s the youngsters
- must not be viewed by youngsters as a ‘chore’
- Should leave the delivery of learning to the private sector supporters – it’s not about teaching! Youngsters get great teachers at school, they don’t need anymore!
- Should have measurable but realistic objectives. E.g. not to create x businesses each year, or raise £x in equity from licensing IP. Its just not realistic.
- Compliment the curriculum
- Appeal to teachers who are such a key influencer and valuable ‘friend’
- Offer sufficient reward for hard work
- Have a competitive element – controversial maybe, but its essential to gain the motivation from the youngsters
Finally the most important thing for any future intervention is to make sure that it never looses sight of who the customer is – it’s not the sponsors, not the teachers, not the funding partners – it’s the youngsters and schemes that remember this are always the most successful.
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