Training and education – Introduction
Teaching the next generation
While nothing beats learning on the job, qualifications have a crucial role to play too T
he recruitment of suitable staff and the development of knowledge and skills within the aquaculture workforce will be fundamental to the achievement of ambi-
tious national targets for expansion. This challenge must be exercising the minds of many industry leaders in the UK, as well as their overseas counterparts, as aquaculture prepares to fully mobilise its resources to ad- dress the looming global food security crisis. While there may be much truth in the old
adage that ‘learning on the job’ is the most effective and reliable form of staff development – as nothing can really replace the hard lessons and experience gained in the workplace – both centre and work based qualifications have their place and can play an important role.
Qualifications can provide knowledge and skills profiles... Before opening up the subject of the relative merits of different types of qualifications, it is perhaps worth reflecting on why we need qual- ifications at all. A qualification, so long as it has been properly assessed and quality assured, is an explicit statement of the knowledge and skills that someone has gained. Arguably, it matters not how the qualifica- tion has been delivered, and the options are becoming increasingly diverse, so long as it is
a true reflection of the knowledge and skills profile of that individual. When it comes to understanding the detail, it
helps if qualifications are well written and in terms that do not require interpretation by an education specialist, but are meaningful to industry. In this respect, much progress has been made, and the UK is well blessed, having devel- oped a mature vocational qualifications system over the past three decades. Many countries in Europe are just starting out on this journey and their Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems are embryonic. This issue is getting increasing attention from the European Commission as the political will to ‘level up’ VET systems across Europe seems to be building in order to support European labour mobility.
Active employer involvement has been crucial...
In the UK, employer involvement in qualifica-
tions development has been crucial, as without it, the credibility of national qualifications is hard to gain and sustain. The sector skills councils have been our facilitators, and Lantra has been the guardian of what is known as the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for many years.
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Through the hard work of industry committee members, Lantra has ensured that the defini- tion of the knowledge and skills (often defined as competences) required at each occupational level is comprehensive and accurate, in a way that works for all sectors. This allows everyone to share the same expec-
tation of what a fish husbandry person and site manager, for example, should know and be able to do. Ultimately, once national qualifications based on the NOS are developed and made accessible to staff, their recognised knowledge and skills profiles can grow and they become more of a ‘known quantity’. This is good for indi- vidual career development, human resources management and the industry as a whole.
Standards do matter... For an industry such as aquaculture, under
intense scrutiny, occupational standards matter more than ever and offer a lot more than just kudos. Once an industry has developed and publicly endorsed its own NOS, it has made a statement of responsibility, committing to ensure that the workforce at all levels conduct themselves according to clearly defined and publicly endorsed standards.
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