Everybody has the right to try to reach the top

Nov 26 2004 By Nicholas Craig, He Journal

The furore inspired by Prince Charles's memo mushroomed into a monster over the weekend.

But have you read the words of that memo? I defy anyone to tell me where Prince Charles argues that people should not aspire beyond their station.

What he is saying is that people should have ambitions, but that they should be based on hard work, skills and ability. Believing you can conquer all without putting in any effort is, he says, "social utopianism" and unlikely to get you anywhere fast.

He appeared to me to be putting forward common-sense views, which were mauled and misrepresented in a frantic tabloid frenzy of "know your place" headlines.

Ironically, many of Prince Charles's views are identical to those in the well-received Tomlinson report, published a few weeks ago. The Tomlinson report into education for 14 to 19-year-olds, heralded as "the biggest shake-up of secondary schooling in England for decades" also pushes the need for learning to fit the different capabilities and skills we all have.

Employers have long complained that school-leavers lack employability skills. Both Tomlinson and Prince Charles are putting the need to have skills that fit you for adult life at the top of the agenda.

They both position vocational education as a priority alongside the "gold standard" of A-levels.

Until we stop thinking that vocational education is OK for your neighbour's child but not your own, we won't have the top flight skills we need to thrive in business and industry straight from school.

The new diploma system, which is going to evolve over the next decade, gives me great hope on behalf of employers everywhere.

As part of the diploma all students will have to pass tests in three "core" skills needed for the workplace - literacy, maths and information and communications technology.

This will be the first time a qualification guarantees that students have these skills. It's excellent news. My old hobbyhorse about school leavers needing to get the basics right to succeed at work has been heeded at last.

If students have the tools such as "core" skills, vocational training and academic training designed to stretch their abilities, they are far more likely to succeed in their ambitions. Everybody has the right to try to reach the top. A modern Britain means nobody should be cut out.