Now look friends, there will be some people who say this is all too radical, let's just carry in as we are. I say we can't carry on as we are. We can't carry on as we are, two nations not one. The banks and the rest of Britain. We must have a One Nation banking system as part of a One Nation economy.
Next, we need an education system that works for all young people. You see, to be a One Nation economy you have got to use all the talents of all of our young people. It's not just that it's socially right, it is absolutely essential for our economy for the future.
I remember when Chris and I were at Haverstock. I remember at Haverstock school, my comprehensive, the kids who were good at passing exams, who were academic, they could go to university and the world would just open up for them like it did for me. But think about all those kids who had talent and ability, great talent and ability. School just didn't offer them enough. It was true twenty five years ago, and it is even more true today.
Just think in your minds eye about the 14 year old today. Today is a school day. Think about that 14 year old, not academic, already bored at school, maybe already starting that process of truanting, of not going to school. Now of course they need to get back to school and their parents need to get them back to school. They can't afford to drift through life with no qualifications and Britain can't afford for them to do it either. But we can't just say to that 14 year old just put in the work, because we have been failing them too. You see for a long time our party has been focused on getting 50% of young people into university. I believe that was right. But now it's time to put our focus on the forgotten 50% who do not go to university.
Here's the choice that I want to offer to that 14 year old who is not academic. English and maths to 18 because rigour in the curriculum matters. But courses that engage them and are relevant to them. Work experience with employers. And then culminating at the age of 18 with a new gold standard qualification so they know when they are taking that exam they have a gold standard vocational qualification, a new Technical Baccalaureate. A qualification to be proud of. You know, we've got to change the culture of this country friends. We can't be a country where vocational qualifications are seen as second class.
They are a real route to apprenticeships and jobs. They can be as valuable to our young people as a university degree. We need to make it so.
So we've got to change the culture in this country and there needs to be that real route to apprenticeships but let me tell you though, there is another problem. Only one in three large employers in Britain actually offers apprenticeships. And if anything, in the public sector the situation is far far worse. That is about a culture of a country. That's about a culture of a country which hasn't been dealt with for decades. It is the task of the next Labour government to do that. So the public sector is going to have to step up to the plate and understand we can't be two nations. We can't be two nations. And when the public sector offers contracts to the private sector the next Labour government will ensure that every private sector contract will only be awarded to a large company that trains the next generation with apprenticeships. Because when the public sector is having a contract with a private sector company, it is not just buying goods and services, it must be about building One Nation together. Public and private sectors joining together to do it.
