Travel around Britain, and the paradox of our labour market quickly becomes apparent. There are far too many young people out of work, yet employers complain that they can’t get the people they want. That is because, for too long, young people have been denied the experience that employers want. This is what’s known as the ‘skills crisis’ and is one of the greatest problems facing Britain today. It is a problem this government wants to solve. Yes, employment has risen to a record high under the coalition but we’re painfully aware that this is not an end in itself. We want British dole queues to shorten.
Look around the world, and other countries – like Japan, Germany and Korea – get it right. There, vocational education is highly valued because it is high quality. It is a serious option for all children, including the bright and technically-skilled. Young people will study hard if they think the qualification will make a serious difference to their chances in life. The problem is that too few in Britain are being offered this. This is because of the high number of courses that have left too many young people with qualifications that get them nowhere.
Vocational education has enjoyed a surge in popularity in England – a threefold increase in students taking Level 3 vocational qualifications between 2001 and 2011. However, there has not been a corresponding rise in the status given to vocational education. In some ways, this dates back the split between Grammars and Secondary Moderns – and what Michael Gove recently referred to as the invidious idea that pupils can be split into sheep and goats at the age of 11. Asian countries don’t share this assumption. The Germans make sure technical qualifications are as solid as those for pupils likely to spend more of their time with their heads in books. So, too, can we.
The Technical Baccalaureate is intended to change that. It will be rigorous and challenging, finally giving vocational education the high status it deserves – putting it on a par with A level study. It will recognise those young people who have excelled at a high-quality, industry-recognised vocational qualification and who have shown strong ability in maths and English.
The TechBacc will be a mark of quality that shows a young person has the abilities employers want – getting young people jobs and helping Britain succeed. This has been said so often in British politics that it sounds like a cliché, but it’s a fundamental truth. Economic performance, world over, is linked to human capital – and how well a country educates its children. British children have been let down too badly for too long. The TechBacc will try another way.
Matthew Hancock is the Skills Minister and will be speaking at the Spectator’s Skills Forum tomorrow.
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