スコットランド教育維持手当てにおける柔軟性の導入

「ケアのための欠席」の扱いに注目して

抄録

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the process of the introduction of flexibility to education maintenance allowance in Scotland for vulnerable young people such as young carers. The paper examined parliamentary materials such as conference minutes and written questions and answers that were related to the process to revise the guidance documents of Education Maintenance Allowance in Scotland. The paper also compares the guidance documents for Education Maintenance Allowance and clarify the points of revision. Education Maintenance Allowance was started in 1999 in England and in 2004 in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Although it was abolished in England, other three countries continue its provision. Education maintenance allowance reflects the “Third Way” philosophy, which advocates for equality as inclusion. Voluntary youth organization pointed out the challenges faced by young carers in accessing the Education Maintenance Allowance particularly regarding the requirement for attendance rates. The issue has been discussed the Scottish Parliament, and then greater flexibility has been introduced in addressing the difficulties faced by young carers and other vulnerable young people in accessing and continuing the Education Maintenance Allowance. The point of revision for the guidance is the rule of entitlement and attendance recording for Education Maintenance Allowance. Vulnerable young people is supposed to be given appropriate flexibility and discretion when assessing attendance. “Absences, for example caring responsibilities, that relate to a vulnerable young person’s circumstance” has been added to the examples for authorized absence. In the guidance document, Accordingly, the phrase of “flexibility may be given” has replaced with that of “flexibility should be given”. The study pointed out the establishment of more flexible management for Education Maintenance Allowance. Vulnerable young people such as young carers are one of the important targets for Education Maintenance Allowance, but for them the requirement of full attendance has become a barrier for accessing. The findings of the paper reveals the difficulties for the policies for tackling early school leaving. How requirements for support can be set and to what extent flexibilities should be introduced in order not to exclude vulnerable young people is a significant challenges for the policies tackling early school leaving.