Down by the seaside
By Donald Clark, Epic
Brian Stevens of FEDS has rightly pointed out the context for the
UK's education and training policy as being the UK Presidency of
the EU for six months from 1st July 2005. Whatever happened to the
Lisbon objective in 2000 of being the 'most competitive and dynamic
knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustaining economic
growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion" by
2010?
In truth, in the UK, we've been struggling to make progress. By
our own admission, the Skills Alliance (DfES, Treasury, DTI and
DWP) acknowledged the scale of the problem.
- over 20% of job vacancies in England remain unfilled because
of a lack of skilled applicants
- only 55% of people in the UK think vocational skills more important
than academic qualifications. (France 76%, Germany 67%, Sweden
64%, Italy 60%).
- the young do not to rate vocational skills highly (only 45%
of 14-16 year olds rated them most important)
- output per hour worked is nearly 30% higher in the US and France
than in the UK (in part attributable to lower skill levels in
the UK)
The problems, like the facts, speak for themselves, but what of
the solutions?
Solutions
Well the solutions remain as confusing as ever, but there is a
common theme. This government wants to change the value chain. It
sees parents in education and employers and unions in training as
major participants, not mere recipients at the end of the supply
chain. This is, in my opinion, a worthy goal. It is at its most
obvious in the oft-used Labour term 'Academy'. We have:
- City Academies
- Skills Academies
- Union Academy
It is these Academies that appeared in the Labour Manifesto, little
else was mentioned in terms of policy. Parents, employers and unions
have been put in the position of driving these initiatives. Ruth
Kelly describes the Skills Academies as "the iconic symbols of our
determination to transform the quality and status of vocational
education and training". Employer Training Pilots have been endorsed
with Ruth Kelly announcing the trial of the National Employer Training
Programme to cover Level 3. The employer-led Sector Skills Councils;
23 employer-led Sector Skills Councils, nother two in the pipeline,
continue to sprout.
There are initiatives like 'leardirect' with its successful TV
campaign. It now has the largest number of learners on any educational
establishment outside of China. The apprenticeship schemes are now
up to over 255,500 young people in 130,000 businesses across 80
sectors of industry.The one area where there seems to be complete
and utter confusion is in qualifications. The Tomlinson ball was
kicked into touch by Blair and the private schools lobby then kicked
straight back onto the field by the spectators. This one ain't going
away.
If you still have any doubts about Ruth's commitment to business
read this, "I've already made mention of Sir Digby Jones, who began
his career in the Navy, I believe, before moving into law, and has
now moved from law into corporate finance to being I think one of
the strongest voices of business that we've seen in many a long
year. I very much welcome Digby Jones, Director General of the CBI,
championing the leads of business for government. Sir Digby, if
you'd like to come and say a few words, it'll be a pleasure to have
you."
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