Review serves up a training revolution
Feb 19 2008 by Karen McLauchlan, Evening Gazette
AMIDST the recent commotion over a well-known burger chain apparently being given powers to award its own A levels or even degrees, business leaders across the Tees Valley may have been left wondering what is going on, and what such a development might mean for them.
While it would be fair to say that much of the reporting on this matter was less than accurate, the development undoubtedly signifies the start of a revolution in the relationship between the worlds of business and education, as one of the first tangible outcomes of the Government’s 2006 Review of Skills.
This Review introduced the concept of “demand” or “employer-led” education, whereby education and training is focused on producing employees with the skills their employers need.
In practice, this means offering education and training in highly focused small “bites” or modules, from which customers can select their own bespoke programmes.
In addition, there is scope for employers, like the fast food chain, to accredit elements of their own in-house training programmes as alternatives to some, or all, of the elements of courses offered by external providers.
In either case, these assessed modules will be assigned a value measured in educational credit points, with these then being recognised as part of a universal currency of educational qualifications.
The apparent simplicity of such a system may well seem an enticing prospect for employers, but of course there are a number of stings in the tail which businesses should be aware of.
The costs of developing, accrediting and running such programmes are likely to be high, as are the burdens of quality assurance processes needed to confirm standards, while the government has already made it clear that it will expect a very significant proportion of the costs of such programmes to be borne by industry.
To respond to this challenge, a number of educational providers, including my own university, are enthusiastically embracing the concept of employer-led education, reinventing the way in which they interact with industry to jointly develop the learning modules and delivery modes which truly match employer needs.
Both employers and providers will need to find their feet, and there will no doubt be challenges for both in adjusting to this new world during the coming months, but the prize of a workforce with a truly world-class skills base must surely be worth the effort.
