Memorandum 55
Submission from Prospect
INTRODUCTION
1. Prospect is a trade union representing
102,000 professionals, managers and specialists across the public
and private sectors. Our members are professionals, managers and
specialists across a diverse range of areas, including agriculture,
defence, energy, environment, heritage, justice and transport.
2. We are concerned that the Government's
decision to withdraw funding for Equivalent or Lower Qualifications
(ELQs) will have a detrimental impact on our members and the organisations
they work for.
3. Many of our members are degree qualified
at the start of their careers but are required to update their
qualifications as they move through their employment. They do
this either to keep abreast of new technology and discoveries
or to acquire new skills in leadership and management. Whilst
these activities are important for personal development, they
are not simply "nice to have". In many professions,
and in particular those that are science and technology based,
constant updating is essential to ensure continued proficiency.
Individuals cannot rely on the currency of academic qualifications
undertaken several or, in some cases—many—years ago.
4. For example Prospect has members, currently
in their early 50s, who studied first degrees in engineering in
the early 1970s. If they hadn't had the opportunity to study ELQs
in the intervening years their knowledge of, for example, semiconductor
devices would still be at the tail end of the valve era and at
the early attempts to create integrated circuit chips of comparatively
low complexity in today's terms. Technological change is continuing
apace and the country's ability to produce a workforce capable
of keeping up with these changes, and to manage programmes producing
new innovations, will be adversely affected by the implementation
of the decision to remove funding for ELQs.
5. In addition, our experience clearly demonstrates
that an academic or professional qualification provides no guarantee
of job security. Thousands of Prospect members are currently facing
an uncertain or insecure future with their current employer. In
these circumstances, they need to update their skills to ensure
continued employability—either in their existing organisation
or with a new employer. Institutions like the Open University
provide our members with an ideal opportunity to study while remaining
in full time employment, or to take short CPD courses between
contracts to improve their employability. The majority of these
courses will be at equal or lower levels to the degree they already
possess in their core specialisation, but they are essential if
individuals are to maintain their skill and knowledge levels in
a rapidly changing environment.
6. We are also concerned about the equalities
implications of the Government's decision. We believe that it
will deter individuals—mostly women—who have taken
a career break or have followed unconventional career paths from
undertaking reskilling activities. It is notable that women constitute
the majority of part-time learners, including those undertaking
second degrees. It also ignores the circumstances of potential
learners currently at a distance from the labour market or working
in jobs below their potential. For example, many women are in
part-time jobs that do not utilise their technical qualifications.
They may well be at a stage in their lives where they have accumulated
the personal confidence to take on a more challenging role but
have no realistic prospect of accessing support for reskilling
from their current employer.
7. If the Government proceeds with its proposals
to withdraw funding, especially to institutions like the OU and
Birkbeck College (which are very supportive of part time students
combining work and study), this will act as a disincentive to
organisations and individuals to follow these routes to development.
This contradicts the Government's espoused commitment to lifelong
learning and will militate against aspirations to reskill the
nation's workforce and to develop a high skilled economy. Prospect
therefore urges the Government to reconsider its position.
January 2008
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