Platform 51

News

Monday, 6 February 2012
Care to Learn success announcement

Platform 51's campaign to keep Care to Learn proves successful

We are delighted to announce that Platform 51 has been successful in campaigning to keep Care to Learn for another year. This means that teenage parents are supported to continue in their education and training for 2012/13. Excellent news for young mums and their children!

Along with organisations including NUS, TUC, Gingerbread and Daycare Trust, Platform 51 strongly opposed the Department for Education's plans to change the scheme and campaigned in Autumn 2011 to make sure it was retained.  See our open letter to Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, expressing our concerns at the proposals here. Platform 51’s response to the DfE consultation can be found here.

Care to Learn provides non income-assessed support for childcare and associated travel costs to enable young parents in England who are under 20 when they start a course to complete their education and gain qualifications to help them enter employment.

Platform 51 knows firsthand from the work we do with young mums the dramatic and significant difference this support can make to their lives. Research has also shown Care to Learn to be crucial in allowing young parents to continue their education. It also has an important role in reducing the numbers of young parents who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Changes to the scheme would disproportionately impact young mothers, who make up 99 per cent of Care to Learn claimants.

Platform 51 will be keeping up the pressure to repeat this success again next year. We want to ensure more young mums can benefit from this vital scheme in future.