inTUITION EDITORIAL


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Time to give FE and training


GET IN TOUCH


a clear purpose This issue’s interview with Alison Wolf (page 10) provides plenty of food for thought around the nature and the purpose of further education and training in England. Dame Ruth Silver, co-chair of the Skills Commission and the Founding


President of the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL), liked to call FE the “adaptive middle”. This is an accurate description of FE’s role which, historically, has been to do whatever it’s told to do – often in response to what’s going on in our school and university sectors. Our schools, while greatly improved, still produce too many young people with low standards of achievement. An OECD skills study in 2016 placed England bottom in an


international comparison of literacy skills for 16 to 19-years-olds, and second to bottom for numeracy. This is not to blame our school colleagues, who face their own


pressures. But, increasingly, it falls to FE to pick up the pieces, especially in maths and English. Meanwhile, our higher education system has grown so vast that it


exerts the gravitational pull of a small planet; sucking in huge numbers of students (and public money) to degree-level courses. Consequently, higher level technical and professional qualifications wither on the vine while employers cry out for more highly qualified technicians in engineering, IT and construction. Much of FE and skills is, on the one hand, a second chance saloon for school leavers and, on the other, a co-opted partner in the university supply chain. That FE meets these twin demands, while also skilling and reskilling people for work, can seem like a minor miracle. We are at a critical juncture. The government’s reforms of vocational education and training promise to strengthen FE and training providers as centres of professional and technical excellence. Given a clear mission and the necessary funding, FE and training


providers may finally divest themselves of that undeserved label of being 'that bit between school and university'. Read the OECD report at goo.gl/sJF02w


Pedagogue is a Member of SET 22 24


The third FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference will be held in Birmingham ahead of the launch of the apprenticeship levy in April. For more information and booking visit goo.gl/e1JJcL


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Association of Colleges/ Education and Training Foundation Spring Policy Conference is covering topics such as English and maths, apprenticeships and inspection. For information and booking visit goo.gl/hm0qaQ


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12.30-1.30pm SET Webinar (Part 1). The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), a social enterprise, discusses improving attendance and achievement in maths and English. To register and access the recording visit goo.gl/KPjKJc


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12.30-1.30pm SET Webinar (Part 2). This will explore how the findings discussed in the first webinar can be translated into practice. To register and access the recording visit goo.gl/tE7BNz


INTUITION ISSUE 27 • SPRING 2017 35


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