Big Brother college course 'aimed at unemployed teenagers' » Education » 24dash.com

A college is hoping to tempt unemployed teenagers back into education with a course on Big Brother and other reality TV shows.

Students will examine the "cultural importance" of hit shows like Pop Idol and I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here during the three-day workshops at Filton College, north Bristol.

They will also get the chance to star in their own Big Brother experiment and learn how to take video footage.

The course, which aims to boost the participants' confidence and give them a "taste" of a possible career, will be run by experts from the college's media department.

Other topics on offer include nail art, horse riding, survival techniques, football coaching and beauty.

Those completing the courses will be given an MP3 player and those taking part in sports-related studies will get free membership of a gym.

They have also been reassured they will not lose any benefits by taking part in the scheme.

College leaders claim the "Discovery Days" sessions aim to give people a "life-changing" experience and a chance to experience "jobs" they may be interested in pursuing.

However, they stressed the reality TV course was not simply to help prepare people for auditions for the Channel 4 show.

Kevin Hamblin, Principal and Chief Executive of Filton College, said : "There are many 16 to 18-year-olds within the Greater Bristol region who have dropped out of both education and employment and who lack the confidence to try new avenues and to gain career opportunities.

"Our aim with this new initiative is to give young people confidence in their abilities and to re-engage them to consider learning programmes in the future. We want to offer them a truly positive and life-changing experience."

The Discovery Days will be held over three consecutive days in March, April and July.

They will offer careers advice and tips on interviews and CVs, along with guidance on which courses students may want to study following their taster session.

Nigel Eagers, the college's vice principal, said he expected the Big Brother course to be a big hit with teenagers.

"The content of each of these Discovery Days is extremely action-packed and stimulating and we hope it will give these young people inspiration to try new careers and participate in future longer courses.

"I am expecting demand for the Reality TV Discovery Days to be extremely high; learners will look at the role and importance of reality television and they will have a go at video taking, review current trends in reality television and star in our own 'Big Brother' experiment. All of our Discovery Days have progression routes for young people to move onto should they discover a new area or career that they would wish to pursue."

However, he failed to explain how studying the likes of Jade Goody and Chantelle Houghton would help young people find work and boost their job prospects.

Copyright Press Association 2007.