Government to invest 拢500m a year and simplify technical training
Employers have welcomed the government鈥檚 plans to radically overhaul technical education, which are being hailed as the biggest shake-up in post-16 education in more than 70 years.
In an announcement issued ahead of this week鈥檚 Budget, the government said it planned to invest 拢500m a year into 鈥楾-levels - technical training for 16-19-year-olds in sectors including construction and engineering.
The government said it would ramp up trainingvia technical routes to 900 hours - a 50% increase - and each course would offer a 鈥渉igh quality work placement鈥�.
It also plans to slash the 13,000 or so technical courses currently available to 15.
Students taking higher technical education courses at levels 4-6 will also be able to get maintenance loans.
The CBI said businesses were 鈥渄elighted鈥� by the move. Carolyn Fairbairn, the employers鈥� organisation鈥檚 director-general, said it had long called for the sort of reform now being proposed.
鈥淚ncreasing the number of teaching hours for technical subjects is fundamental to delivering world class training for our young people in every part of the UK,鈥� she said.
鈥淭here has never been a more important time to address the UK鈥檚 skills shortages. Investment in skills by employers and the government, working together in partnership, are the key to giving young people the opportunities they need to succeed.
鈥淎nd with the majority of people who will be working in 2030 already in the workforce now, the proposed focus on adult skills provision will put this type of training on the right path to major and necessary improvement.鈥�
Philip Hammonds, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will formally announce the government鈥檚 plans at his first Spring Budget on Wednesday.
It is expected the new courses will be rolled out in two years鈥� time and will receive 拢500m of new funding a year once the scheme is fully up and running.
The proposals build on last year鈥檚 announcement that thousands of what the government called 鈥渋neffective courses that short-change employers and young people鈥� would be replaced with 15 鈥渟traightforward routes into technical employment, creating a more skilled workforce fit for modern Britain鈥�.
Union slams 鈥榙ead-end鈥� construction courses
Unite, the trade union, has uncovered what it calls 鈥渟hocking鈥� figures which suggest that thousands of young people are being placed on so-called 鈥榙ead-end鈥� classroom-based construction courses.
Under a Freedom of Information request, Unite found that while 192,500 young people began a classroom based construction course in 2015/16, a rise of 14% on the previous year, only 21,460 people began a construction apprenticeship.
Therefore, Unite claimed, 89% of people beginning a construction course were undertaking potentially 鈥榙ead-end鈥� training.
Acting general secretary, Gail Cartmail, said: 鈥淭hese figures are truly shocking. For whatever reason we find ourselves in the terrible situation of increasingly offering young people a classroom construction course but also in effect denying them the chance to acquire the qualifications needed to enter the industry in a skilled role.
鈥淐lassroom based construction teaching has a vital role to play in the training of construction apprentices. What is urgently needed is a refocussing of resources to ensure that money is more effectively invested in boosting the number of genuine apprenticeships, so that a far higher number of young people can acquire the skills and qualifications to enter the industry.
鈥淲e need to build an effective alliance including: Unite, employers, FE colleges, apprentice providers and the government to boost apprenticeships and ensure young people are able to access meaningful courses.鈥�
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