The
Government has launched a new strategy to help ethnic minorities achieve
employment success.
The
‘Ethnic Minorities and the Labour Market’ report, by the Prime Minister’s
Strategy Unit, sets out an action plan to open pathways of achievement – so
that more ethnic minorities can move from high-attainment in the classroom to
success in the workplace.
Under
the plan, there will be action to reduce achievement gaps in schools between
ethnic groups, tailored programmes to connect the jobless with work, and
initiatives to encourage more businesses to become good equal opportunities
employers.
The
report sets out a fresh approach which goes beyond traditional
anti-discrimination policies to address the many barriers that can get in the
way of success in jobs and careers.
And
it makes plain that different ethnic minority communities face different
barriers to success in the labour market – and that Government policies must be
finely-tuned in response.
Tony
Blair said:: "Britain has become a much more ethnically-diverse country.
This has brought widespread benefits to the nation’s culture, economy and
society.
"Some
ethnic minority groups have done well in the education system and in the labour
market. But, too many members of ethnic minority communities are still being
left behind. And even those individuals who achieve academic success do not
necessarily reap the rewards in the workplace that their qualifications merit.
"We
need a much more fine-grained approach, with interventions tailored to meeting
the different needs of particular groups. This report contains such a package
of fresh and practical measures, all of which will be implemented immediately
as government policy."
www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/innovation/2003/ethnic/report.shtml
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