Andy Burnham is helping young people find better career pathways

Image Credit: Kyle Rozcniak

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“Young people growing up in Greater Manchester can see the skyscrapers of the city from their bedroom window, but they can’t see a path for themselves.”

Andy Burnham, who has served as mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, delivered the above words as part of a keynote speech at Manchester’s Beyond the Music conference. The mayor outlined the advancements made which benefit young people, and the music scene, in the city.

Burnham opened the speech by highlighting Manchester’s achievements this year, including the opening of the Co-op Live, the Oasis reunion and the city being named best in the UK for nightlife (“despite the previous government in Downing Street making a pitch for the crown”).

Working class talent in the music industry

Along with other victories Manchester has had iso far this year, Burnham proudly spoke of new developments for young people across the city, which he said would benefit young people wanting to pursue a career in the creative arts. 

The mayor highlighted the difficulty young people from working class backgrounds have breaking into the music industry today. 

“Why are we a city with a strong identity? it’s because that working class talent came through in our industry. I think it’s harder now to do the same,” he said.

“I think it’s quite hard actually. To be someone growing up in one of our 10 boroughs and kind of finding their way into the GM music industry. As brilliant as it is, it’s just not clear, It’s not structured.”

As a result, Burnham has launched the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc). He referred to the qualification as “an equal alternative to the university route”.

The qualification is a replacement for the conventional GCSE to BTEC and/or A-level route. At 14, young people who pursue the MBacc qualification can choose one of seven gateways, valued by employers in Manchester.

By age 19, students with the MBacc can take work related courses that result in diverse employment opportunities.

Burnham said: “We want young people in our schools to be able to see technical pathways in the same way that people see the academic pathways towards university”. 

New developments in Manchester

In addition, the mayor spoke of other developments within Manchester for young people such as the importance of the Bee Network development for concertgoers.

Bee Network buses play a pivotal role in getting people to and from gigs in Manchester.

Burnham said: “Getting home from gigs is far too difficult. We’re going to have an extensive network of night buses.”

Burnham also discussed Beeline, a website introduced earlier in September that aims to help young people navigate employment in the city.

“We’ve just launched something called Beeline. A new tool for our young people, which for the first time, gives them visibility of the jobs that are currently available in Greater Manchester.”

“[Beeline] takes seven sectoral gateways in GM economy, and it enables them, at one click, to see the jobs that are available at the end of those gateways.” 

Burnham referred to the resource as “an amazing tool”. However, there is a lack of job posts visible in the creative industries section.

Consequently, the mayor advised creative companies against promoting “unpaid placements or unpaid internships” on the website.

[for young people] “growing up in a situation where you don’t have all of that money, we need paid internships everybody. We need the real living wage, we need to see the [MBacc] course on qualifications.”

To find out more about the MBacc qualification and Beeline, visit https://gmacs.co.uk