Memorandum submitted by the National Union
of Teachers (NUT)
INTRODUCTION
Post-16 Skills Training
1. The National Union of Teachers welcomes
the opportunity to contribute to this call for evidence into Skills
and the 14-19 Specialised Diplomas.
2. The NUT supports flexible training in
the workplace as a way of tackling the low skills shortage. All
young people need to be given the opportunities to develop a full
range of skills beyond the statutory school leaving age and into
their adult lives.
3. Secondary education has the capacity
to provide young people with more general skills which can then
provide a basis for the development of more specific occupational
skills at work. Knowledge, skills and understanding which have
a vocational application can be developed across a range of subjects
and included within courses currently defined as "academic".
4. All young people should have an entitlement
to develop skills which will be of benefit to them in their adult
lives and upon which they can continue to build, whether in the
workplace or in the wider world.
5. The new Specialised Diplomas should have
embedded in them wider skills that can provide a basis for the
development of specific occupational skills at work. Indeed, all
young people should have an entitlement to develop skills which
are of benefit to their adult lives. Leitch has said in his final
report that the new "14-19 Diplomas must succeed" in
order to improve learner engagement and improve the staying-on
rate for young people in education or in workplace training up
to the age of 18. It is vital, therefore, that these Diplomas
provide real progression routes to post-16 programmes of study.
Functional Maths and English
6. Incorporating functional maths and English
into the Diplomas, and new GCSE specifications and as a separate
qualification, will not automatically secure participation and
attainment beyond age 16. The view of the NUT is that the Intermediate
Level will remain an important step on the "ladder"
of progression for the vast majority of students.
7. Any new system of curriculum and qualifications
should not create a system which separates "basic" mathematical
and communication skills from "academic" math and English
studies. Developments which can motivate and enable more young
people to achieve their potential in applied mathematical and
communication skills would be welcome, but such developments should
still enable them to progress to higher levels of achievement
in maths and English.
8. The functional skills pilot, therefore,
must be evaluated thoroughly to ascertain their impact on all
learners.
THE ROLE
OF THE
NATIONAL LEARNING
AND SKILLS
COUNCILS
9. The NUT had serious reservations about
the proposals for the structures and responsibilities of the national
and local Learning and Skills Councils when they were set up.
The balance in membership of the national Learning and Skills
Council has always been skewed towards employer representation.
The decisions made concerning 14-19 education and training has
not secured, therefore, the confidence of teachers and their organisations.
10. The establishment of the LSC has added
to a confusing and bureaucratic assembly of Government quangos.
The interim report, published by Lord Leitch, shows that more
than one third of adults in the UK lack a basic school leaver
qualification and five millions adults have no qualifications
at all. The £10 billion a year funding given to the LSC could
be better used to fund the development of adult basic skills,
therefore.
11. With the demise of the 47 Local Learning
and Skills Councils and the setting up of nine LSC Regional Councils,
it is important that the LSC establishes local forums where schools
and colleges can effectively discuss issues such as local strategic
plans, 14-19 initiatives, the quality and organisation of post-16
provision in schools and colleges, local authority involvement
in the co-ordination of post-16 provision, funding inspection
and Strategic Area of Reviews and the Annual Grant Letter issued
to the Chair of the Learning and Skills Council from the Secretary
for Education.
12. The NUT has received evidence from its
Regional Offices that the Local Learning and Skills Councils have
not been pro-active in seeking consultative forums at local level
with teacher organisations. This needs to be remedied in any new
strategy.
13. While the National and Regional Learning
and Skills Councils have a duty to provide quantity, quality and
value for money in post-16 provision, it is essential that the
evaluation of post-16 provision in a particular area should take
into account all the factors that relate to social and economic
disadvantage.
14. In addition, there is a tension between
the LSC's statutory duties to encourage participation in education
and training which places individual learners at the heart of
the system, while simultaneously seeking to ensure that the skill
needs of the economy and society to be fully met. These objectives
will not necessarily be the same. School sixth form provision,
for example, might be the most appropriate form of provision for
less confident students, although it might not be the most direct
way of addressing the country's skill needs.
15. The NUT questions whether the LSCs have
had the experience and availability of staffing and time to evaluate
Key Stage 4 provision through the 14-19 area inspections. Inclusion
of 14-16 provision in Area Inspections has led to schools experiencing
overlapping inspections. The impact of this development has placed
additional burdens on schools resulting in the over-duplication
of documentation as well as bureaucratic overload.
THE ROLE
OF UNION
LEARNING REPRESENTATIVES
16. The NUT, as part of the trade union
movement, sees the engagement and support of employees through
workplace training as a fundamental right. Union Learning Representatives
have made a significant contribution by working strategically
with employers to improve workforce development. They have an
increasingly important role to play in encouraging employers to
engage in learning and training.
17. The role of Union Learning Representatives
has been a major initiative in the NUT. In 2004, the Union Learning
Fund (ULF) awarded the National Union of Teachers £41,120
for a project to develop a network of school-based learning representatives
within the NUT. The NUT's aim was to pilot a school-based learning
representative role in targeted areas to complement the network
of NUT local level learning representatives.
18. During the period 2002 and 2004, with
the ULF funding, the NUT launched and developed the learning representative
role at local authority level within the Union. The NUT recruited
and trained 91 NUT members from 67 different NUT divisions.
19. The initial project was funded until
July 2005. In spring 2005, the NUT successfully applied for an
extension of the project until July 2006 and was awarded an additional
£16,490. The key aims of the extension were to recruit and
train more learning representatives and to organise a national
Learning Representatives' Forum in 2006.
20. The NUT recognises the importance and
need to sustain the NUT learning representative role by developing
effective support for members undertaking the role. Holding annual
forums was considered an important part of that learning process.
It was hoped that the forums would provide the opportunity for
learning representatives to meet and network with other learning
representatives from across England and Wales.
21. The learning representative role has
continued to be embedded within the structures and policies of
the NUT. NUT learning representatives have helped to increase
teachers' perceptions of the NUT and the trade union movement
as learning organisations and as places to turn to with regard
to matters related to training and development. Their help proved
that, "learning is union business".
SKILLS ACADEMIES
22. The NUT has concerns about the establishment
of new Skills Academies.
23. The recommendation of the Education
and Skills Select Committee that the Academies initiative should
be evaluated before any further developments are made, should
be extended to the first Skills Academies.
24. As privately sponsored independent schools
they will be able to jettison pupils' entitlement to a broad and
balanced curriculum in favour of a narrow, solely employer led
curriculum. Training in specific, current, skills cannot prepare
or equip young people with general learning and skills for the
challenging working environment in the 21st Century.
25. The NUT is represented at the Lifelong
Learning Sector Skills Trade Union meetings. Useful discussion
has taken place at these meetings on the remit of this particular
Sector Skills Council and its structures. Issues such as workplace
learning, 14-19 education, the role of frontline and support staff
in education, development of workforce planning and higher and
further education are debated at these meetings and reported back
to the Lifelong Sector Skills Council. The role of the Sector
Skills Councils (SSCs) will only be strengthened by the active
involvement of trade unions, which includes Sector Skills Council
Board representation.
26. Currently, trade unions are represented
on the Sector Skills Councils on a voluntary basis. This voluntary
approach may need to be converted into a requirement in order
to strengthen the trade union involvement in the work of the SSCs.
CAREERS INFORMATION,
ADVICE AND
GUIDANCE
27. The Government identifies rightly that
it is facing a challenge in providing better support to young
people as they take decisions about their careers and other choices.
28. When the Connexions service was launched,
the NUT emphasised that the funding for it would be a critical
aspect of the provision to be provided. The level of funding required
to allow local providers to reach young people at risk has not
been sufficient.
29. Careers advice has been patchy in schools
and colleges, due to a lack of funding and a lack of strategic
planning. It is important, therefore, that new arrangements are
made with specific goals to aim for in a universal Information
Advice and Guidance (IAG) system when funds have been transferred
to Children's Trusts and to schools.
30. It is crucial, for example, that high
quality and effective advice and guidance is in place if the proposed
14-19 reforms are to be implemented properly. The evaluation of
the DfES 14-19 Pathfinders revealed that there is no clear distinction
between the responsibilities of schools' career staff and those
of Connexions advisers. If the new arrangements for IAG are to
be shared between local authorities, Children's Trusts and schools
and colleges, then the co-ordination of such work must be made
transparent to all the providers named. Local partnership arrangements
set up by Children's Trusts must effectively incorporate schools'
work on children's well being and pastoral care, as well as individual
advice and guidance for pupils.
31. The NUT welcomes the flexibility that
will allow schools and colleges to commission IAG services directly.
Local authorities will have a key brokering role in establishing
local collaborative arrangements. It is crucial that in the context
of local authority 14-19 planning, for example, collaborative
arrangements are made clear to young people, their parents and
the wider school community.
THE NEW
FRAMEWORK FOR
ACHIEVEMENT
32. The NUT believes that the new Framework
for Achievement will help to achieve a greater degree of simplicity
for learners, providers and "end users". It is important
that learners are given the flexibility to choose the particular
units they recognise as being necessary for them to achieve a
full qualification. The NUT supports a system whereby the Government
closely monitors the new framework, so that any conflict of interest
which may arise between employers and learners can be dealt with.
The widest range of achievements must be recognised in any framework.
33. The concept of a framework which is
unit and credit-based is one which the NUT would broadly support.
It is to be hoped that such a framework will recognise the wider
achievements of learners aged 14-19 within any wider diploma framework.
For some 14-19 learners, we envisage that this might include credits
and units of larger qualifications which are recognised within
the Framework for Achievement, especially when young people are
receiving part of their 14-19 provision in the workplace, FE colleges
or are involved in activities in the community which are recognised
within the Framework for Achievement structure.
THE FIFTY
PER CENT
TARGET INTO
HIGHER EDUCATION
34. The NUT has consistently maintained
that social class is one of the chief determinants of entry to
higher education. If the 50% target is to be reached, then particular
attention should be paid to encouraging young people from lower
income families to continue to study beyond 16. The NUT welcomes,
therefore, the roll-out of education maintenance allowances to
all young people who need financial help.
35. The NUT believes that if the target
is to be met, there must be a focus on enabling more 14-19 young
people to achieve Level 2 qualifications, as well as Level 3 qualifications.
If the new Specialised Diplomas are to succeed, then progression
routes from pre-entry level onwards must be transparent and the
Diplomas themselves recognised and acknowledged by Higher Education
Admission Tutors.
36. The NUT would emphasise that one the
main barriers to participation of under-representative groups
is the current Government policy in regard to higher education
student finance. This results in the perception that higher education
study will mean an accumulation of a heavy burden of debt that
many young people from under-representative groups are unwilling
to take on.
37. There needs to be a concerted effort
to encourage young people of under-representative groups to enter
higher education. There should be more advice and guidance on
exactly what higher education entails and its economic and social
benefits. Advice and guidance on the financial implications of
higher education study, how much it will cost and how it can be
financed must be aimed at young people from low income families.
December 2006
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