'Keep your eyes on the target' plea

Citation

(1999), "'Keep your eyes on the target' plea", Education + Training, Vol. 41 No. 9. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.1999.00441iab.010

'Keep your eyes on the target' plea

Keywords Training and Enterprise Councils, Education

Two years of organizational change resulting from the Government's White Paper in post-16 education and training must not distract attention from the need to get education and training standards up. This was the message from Derek Wanless, National Advisory Council for Education and Training Targets (Nacett) chairman and NatWest group chief executive, speaking at the training and enterprise council national conference in Birmingham. "We have exactly three-and-a-half years left in which to achieve the learning targets recommended by Nacett and adopted by the Government. We must not allow two years of organizational change to distract us from the need to get standards up - this year, next year, every year, and not only to 2002 but beyond", said Derek Wanless.

Both training and enterprise councils and further-education colleges have been given too little credit for what they have achieved, he said. After 11 years of compulsory education, only 46 per cent of 16-year-olds achieve five higher-grade GCSE passes. But within only a few years of leaving compulsory full-time education, 74 per cent of 19-year-olds - three out of four - have achieved NVQ level 2 or its equivalent. He said there were a number of conditions to be met to ensure that the setting-up of a new Learning and Skills Council, announced in the White Paper, was a success. These included keeping the involvement of thousands of employers who had given their commitment and time to the training and enterprise council movement and have delivered a major improvement in post-16 training. "We should only be satisfied when the UK workforce has qualifications which ... at the very least ... match those of our competitors. If we are to achieve that, the commitment of employers is essential. Business leadership is vital. We need to build an education and training system which is responsive to the economic needs of those who create jobs and provide the wealth which pays for the public services, including education. The clear recognition in the White Paper that employers are to have a major role on the Learning and Skills Council, at both national and local levels, is critical", said Derek Wanless.