Throughout my career, I have met countless people who have wished to change their careers after discovering an option which they had not been aware of when leaving school. This has resulted in dissatisfaction throughout their working life, impacting on all areas of their lives.
While this Act makes some provision for individuals to make a change later in their career, when families and mortgages are a major consideration, this should be expanded with the help of employers to maximise the benefit to society. A top-up to the student loan facility or contracted period, post-retraining, to the employer are two ways this could be achieved. In addition, an improvement in the careers advice that is offered to school leavers is required. This could be combined with experience gained in collaboration with local companies, possibly with placements happening during school holidays.
Close collaboration between employers and education providers is essential when training people for the marketplace. The nature of the training must be more integrated with employers’ requirements, to ensure that the correct skills are being provided, and those training or re-training are fully aware of what is required of them once they have completed their course. Periods spent on-site during training should be long enough for the individuals to experience the nature of the job that they will be entering. This will enable any changes to be made at an early stage.
As a specialist piling contractor, we train all our operatives in-house since much of our equipment is unique and often training courses do not exist outside our company. We need to be able to work directly with training providers to enable an appropriate certificate to be issued for our in-house training. In the past, categories of equipment have been so broad as to make them meaningless; this has now been addressed by increasing the categories of piling rigs and a certificate of competency is issued generally by an external examiner, however this must be kept under review as more new equipment is introduced into our workplace.
Over the past few years, I have been amazed by the confusion regarding qualifications being offered or misrepresented by education establishments to their students, the main culprit being the degree. I have heard of situations where students consider themselves to have been awarded a degree for part-time study over one or two years, down to a three-week course. This is not only confusing for employers but also the students themselves. It requires clarity within the system to avoid confusion. In addition, I can vouch for the concern of the graduate who has studied full time for three years full-time to obtain their degree, not to mention the debt they have incurred, to have their hard-earned qualification equated to a much less intense course. From an employer’s perspective, we need a simplified system of qualification labelling which can be clearly understood, enabling the most suitable candidates to be identified to meet our requirements.
It is essential for society to appreciate the value of apprenticeships and other vocational qualifications, which can be just as demanding to obtain, and contribute as much as courses which involve full-time study. The value of all these qualifications is dependent on the ability of the student to deliver at the end of their course. All members of society have a valuable contribution to make, and it is vital that everyone is given the opportunity to achieve to their highest level and be proud of their accomplishments, irrespective of the label attached.
Key Points:
• The Skills and Post-16 Education Act’s intent to enable individuals to access training and re-skilling at all stages of their career is welcome, especially in the light of rapidly changing markets and aspirations.
• The closer collaboration of employers and education providers is an absolute necessity, as highlighted by the current skills shortage.
• Rationalisation of qualifications to reduce the confusion of the current situation is long overdue.
• It is essential that skills-based employees are made to feel as valued as those who have chosen the higher education and university pathway.
This article originally appeared in The Leaders Council’s special report on ‘The Impact of the Skills & Post-16 Education Act on the Construction, Engineering & Manufacturing sectors’, published on July 4, 2022. Read the full special report here.
Photo by Monica Melton on Unsplash
