The Armed Forces Covenant in Action? Part 4: Education of service personnel
18/07/2013
A new House of Commons Defence Committee report calls for improvements in service education and asks for further information is needed on why the Army is so dependent on recruiting personnel under the age of 18 years compared to the other two Services, and whether steps are being taken to reduce this dependency.
http://www.parliament.uk
Almost 40% of army recruits have reading age of 11, MPs warn
18/07/2013
Almost two-fifths (39%) of recruits to the Army have the reading ability of an 11-year-old or lower, MPs have warned.
BBC
Ex-troops without degrees to train as teachers
16/07/2013
Former armed forces personnel without degrees will be fast-tracked into teaching in England under a new government programme.
BBC online
Last of the boy soldiers? Bid to end centuries of tradition by banning the Army from recruiting under-18s
21/05/2013
Mail on Sunday
Sir Nick Harvey describes policy is 'increasingly anachronistic'; Believes 16 and 17-year-olds more likely to die or be seriously wounded; Also claims millions of pounds is wasted due to high drop-out rates
Conscientious objector Joe Glenton on being jailed for refusing to fight
21/05/2013
Metro
Joe Glenton, a former soldier in the British army, has served his country and risked his life in Afghanistan. He’s also been called a coward. The reason? After returning to Britain after his first tour of Afghanistan, he became a conscientious objector (CO) and refused to go back.
Alex Cunningham MP: Stop armed forces recruiting children
21/05/2013
Ahead of his debate today, Labour MP Alex Cunningham argues that the UK’s "routine" practice of recruiting 16 year olds into the armed forces has to stop.
Central Lobby
Recruiting British soldiers at 16 isn’t just morally wrong. It’s bad economics
25/04/2013
The Ministry of Defence wastes £94 million every year training minors for army roles which could be filled more cost-effectively by adult recruits, says a new report launched today by human rights groups Child Soldiers International and ForcesWatch.
Open Democracy
Army recruitment at 16 ‘should stop’
23/04/2013
The "outdated" practice of recruiting 16-year-olds into the Army is wasting up to £94m a year and should stop, two human rights groups have said.
BBC
Millions ‘wasted’ on junior army recruits, report claims
23/04/2013
The Telegraph
Tens of millions of pounds is wasted on training young soldiers for roles that could be filled more cost effectively by adults, a report has found.
Army recruitment of under-18s wastes £94 million every year, claims new report
22/04/2013
The Ministry of Defence wastes up to £94 million every year training minors for army roles which could be filled more cost-effectively by adult recruits, according to a new report launched today by human rights groups Child Soldiers International and ForcesWatch.
ForcesWatch press release