Whether it be at the secondary, further education (FE) or higher education (HE) levels, too often the young people coming into the world of work are just not well enough prepared.
I’m not just talking about their grasp of basic literacy and numeracy skills, although that issue never goes away. I’m also referring to their, for want of a better term, ‘work readiness’.
By this I mean both their so-called soft skills such as basic communication and their general attitude to undertaking basic ‘building block’ tasks that some might think rather beneath their very specialised academic achievements.
With the exception of Suffolk Rural, the old Otley College part of the Suffolk New College empire, I really do not believe any of Suffolk’s public sector colleges have really adapted their mix of courses to address the skills and attitude needs of businesses in our county either now or for the next ten years.
For example, it’s clear with the ongoing development of the energy coast in Suffolk and Norfolk, including hopefully the building and operation of a new nuclear power station at Sizewell C, that there will be a demand for specific jobs over the next decade or so, with a skew towards construction and engineering.
I wonder if any of our further education colleges have proportionally increased the capacity of relevant courses to meet this demand? And I wonder if they’ve also scaled back on those that might not be so relevant, not least with the likely rebalancing of the economy post-COVID19?
I’m sceptical about this. And it’s clear I’m not alone.
A joint report
by the CBI and Pearson Plc from late 2019 found that two fifths (40%) of
employers are either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the wider
character, behaviours, and attributes of school and college leavers.
Furthermore,
at about the same time, research from Pearson Business School into graduate and
business attitudes towards the transition from university to the working world,
found that businesses feel that nearly a fifth (17%) of graduates are seen as
not being ready for the workplace.
The study
highlighted some of the crucial skills that are missing within the graduate
workforce and these include leadership (48%), negotiation (44%) and strategy planning
(38%).
That is why
the new Government White Paper, which was rather quietly released in January,
gives me some hope that this systemic public education failure to ensure our
future competitiveness and prosperity, might be about to change.
Titled ‘Skills
for Jobs’, it purports to hand over more influence to businesses and business organisations,
like Chambers of Commerce, in identifying what firms need from their local
further education sector, in particular.
The White
Paper wants to develop what it’s calling Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs)
to identify each area’s skills needs. The Department for Education is now
looking to run a number of pilots to see how these LSIPs can best work in the
interests of the business community.
I think the
only way these good intentions will ever work is if the LSIPs have access to
two vital commodities: intelligence and money.
It seems vital
that the LSIPs are underpinned not only by detailed information about local
business needs now and over the next decade or so, but information that is constantly
kept up-to-date, reflecting the dynamic and ever-changing environment in which
business owners operate.
In terms of
finance, I think that the LSIPs should have funding to ‘reward’ local FE
colleges who actually deliver the right qualifications, numbers, and most
importantly, quality of work-ready students into the local jobs market.
If they don’t
- that money is withheld. Only by means of direct financial control – carrot
& stick - will the local education sector begin to adapt to the real world
of work.
First published in the www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk & www.dissexpress.co.uk Thursday, March 4, 2021.
There is some merit in the position that employers need to be more driving of skills agenda. But sadly I must take issue with your opinion, as throughout the article whilst challenging it is uninformed and, on the local perspective, poorly researched. As the leader of one of the leading regional colleges I can assure you that we work with over 800 employers each year. Part of this work includes support in designing qualifications, signing off on approaches to emerging skills, responding to changing industry need and working on advice and guidance and industrial placement, leading to apprenticeships. East Coast College has been one of the first to respond to emerging technologies such as renewable sector and work with leading industry players both locally and nationally such as Vattenfall or Scottish Power. We have a national reputation for working in energy sector. The College has a strategic partnership with EDF working on workforce planning for the SZC project and have already secured employment for local Suffolk residents in Hinkley.
ReplyDeleteCurriculum is annually revised in response to local labour market information, employer demand and student demand. This is a careful balancing act. It is not just skills that colleges provide but education , a much broader endeavour in support of wider societal needs (not just to provide workers in a changing economy). To reduce it to such a transaction would be dangerously simplistic.
“Carrot and Stick” has existed within education sector through my career; for the majority of provision I’m sure you’ll be aware, colleges are already paid on participation to approved courses and work with local plans and groups by LEPs. There is also regulators such as OFSTED, FE Commissioner and others. Carrot and stick as great management guru Stephen Covey said is the “great jackass theory of human motivation- it treats people like animals and only works on the surface and is temporary”. What is required, and what the new white paper really is saying on closer reading is that it will be through a true collaboration between education and business that will lead to improving outcomes. But if you look hard enough you’ll find plenty of great examples across the county of Suffolk! I’ll happily show you more.