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Policies promoting learning at work
In July 2007 the government published a Leitch Implementation Plan. Subseqently, the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee published a report in August 2007 on Post-16 Skills that was broadly supportive of government policy but raised a number of concerns about the direction of current policy: 'The Government’s approach to skills is one predicated on a direct relationship between prosperity—both social and economic—and skills. Our evidence suggests that skills are only part of a very complex equation, and simply boosting training will not necessarily lead to increased prosperity—particularly in economic terms. What is needed is more coherent support for employers to develop their businesses as a whole, addressing skills needs alongside other issues such as capital investment, innovation and workforce planning. This should be coupled with a much stronger focus on management skills than is currently the case. Improving the national stock of qualifications has been a central aim of skills policy—and Lord Leitch’s ambitions are also framed in these terms. However, an increased national stock of qualifications will not necessarily be an accurate indicator of an increased national stock of skills. What is more, the tying of funding to courses leading to full qualifications goes directly against what many employers and individuals say would be of most benefit to them—'bite-sized' learning that can be built up over time. The new Qualifications and Credit Framework, which makes it possible to accumulate units over time is very welcome, but needs also to be accompanied by more flexible, responsive funding' (p. 3).
The 2007 Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funding consultation proposed most adult funding go through an 'employer-responsive model' (such as the Train to Gain Programme) or a 'learner-responsive model' (such as Individual Learning Accounts). More competition among providers is proposed for the 16–19 phase. The Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) has launched 'Pursuing Excellence', a national Improvement Strategy for the FE sector. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) have launched the Qualifications and Credit Framework, as a way of recognising achievement through awarding credit for units and qualifications. The Lyons Inquiry on 'Promoting prosperity' has also been published, but the relationship between the Leitch and Lyons recommendations are unclear, especially in relation to the part to be played by different stakeholders in providing leadership and direction to skills policy at different levels of the Learning and Skills System.
In December 2006, Lord Leitch had published his final report into UK Skills: for the full report, see:Prosperity for all in the global economy – World class skills.A Summary of the Leitch review: a roadmap directing the UK towards world class skills gives a concise summary interpretation of the report. An earlier review of UK skills and education strategy was commissioned by DfES from the Work Foundation in December 2004 and the report 'Where are the gaps? An Analysis of UK Skills and Education Strategy in the light of the Kok Group and European Commission Midterm Review of the Lisbon goals' by Will Hutton and The Work Foundation was published in March 2005. The Kok Group report, 'Facing the Challenge: The Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Employment' was published in November 2004 and challenged European governments to revitalise and accelerate their plans to create the architecture for a knowledge economy.
Other recent policy developments are examined going back to the Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit’s project on workforce development in 2001. That project had made it clear that the UK’s longstanding difficulties with vocational education and training are the result of a complex web of circumstances, environmental factors and incentive structures that interact in complex ways.
Last cached: 2008-05-06 09:34 PM