Further written evidence to be reported to the House
Education and Skills Bill
10:30 am
Paul Head: I agree completely with all of that. I think we can only welcome that the big national companies actually want to have nationally recognised qualifications for their employees. Nobody has any problem with Microsoft-accredited IT training, because that qualification has industry currency. So, it can only be welcomed that big employers can become Qualifications and Curriculum Authority-approved. And I think the big bit is that it is QCA-approved—that there is quality control over those qualifications. I think the same applies to the Bill’s clause that gives colleges the ability to award qualifications. My own view there was that, if they have local, regional and national currency, and they meet a market demand, colleges should be able to do them. And that is part of a strong self-regulated sector.
On the machinery of Government changes, I personally welcome the fact that we have a Cabinet Minister sitting in Cabinet now. I hope that, regardless of the nature or flavour of the Government, that will continue in the future. That someone actually gets up in the morning and is worried about Britain’s skills base, and is not just dominated by schools and universities, is a really good thing. We have to do some detailed working through on the relationship between the Department for Innovation, University and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
I welcome the re-engagement of local authorities in a leadership role through local area agreements, multi-area agreements and all those kind of things, as that has to be in the interest of children up to the age of 18 under Every Child Matters, and so on. It is down to the Government, in the detailed administration of colleges, to find ways of actually working together in the interests of young people, so I think the machinery of government changes have to be welcomed.
To be honest, people worry too much about galaxies of organisations covering further education; I cannot get too upset about it. Everyone creates new things; they come and they go. Our job is about delivering high-quality education and training, and doing that in the most cost-effective and efficient way possible. That is about having good employer links, good links to local authorities, and, most of all, an undying passion that what matters is student success rates, be it in the workplace or your own institution. You ignore the noise that we all have to live with—we are paid to deal with it—and focus on the learner.