TEACHERS and students backed calls yesterday to boost vocational training in a bid to slash youth unemployment in Scotland by nearly half.

The plan came out of the Scottish government’s Wood Commission’s latest findings, which said that Scotland’s schools are “simply not preparing” young people for working life.

Nearly one in five people across Scotland are currently unemployed — double the rate for the working age population as a whole.

Energy magnate Sir Ian Wood’s panel urged Holyrood to reduce it by at least 40 per cent over the next six years, calling for training and qualifications that led “directly to employment opportunities.

“We are simply not preparing or equipping these young people for the world of work,” the report read.

Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) general secretary Larry Flanagan said the union welcomed the report, with further education colleges sure to play a “vital role.”

But colleges would need more money and resources if the Scottish government wants to get to grips with youth unemployment, he said.

And National Union of Students Scotland vice-president Robert Foster said it was crucial that ministers offer vocational education a “genuine parity of esteem.”

The commission’s report follows criticism of Holyrood’s “regionalisation” reforms, which lump Scotland’s colleges and polytechnics into just a dozen institutions.

Unions have warned that the mergers will bring mass layoffs and redundancy payouts at a time when the government has cut the sector’s funding by £34.6m — roughly six per cent.

Scottish Youth Employment Secretary Angela Constance said the recommendations were “challenging” but the SNP intended to reduce youth unemployment to below pre-recession levels.