The 157 Group has responded to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills’ latest report, Growth Through People, published today (Tuesday, 25 November 2014).
Executive director Dr Lynne Sedgmore said, "The 157 Group is pleased to support the five key principles outlined in today’s report, as a blueprint for driving further improvement in our skills system. The report’s emphasis on the importance of high-quality vocational education routes – including, but not limited to, apprenticeships – reinforces the energy that further education colleges put into this provision.
“We welcome the suggestion that FE colleges should be encouraged to develop programmes of high‑level technical education and the recognition that colleges should act as ‘social and economic anchors’ in their local communities. Both these messages echo our vision for the future role of FE colleges, set out earlier this month in our Future colleges report. Many colleges, as we have shown, are already instrumental in developing better strategic relationships between education and employers, and it is good to see this model receiving further support.
“We are pleased that today’s report exhorts employers – large and small – to play their full part in leading the skills agenda, and to focus as much on workforce development as they do on skills acquisition. The inclusion of schools is also a sign that much more should be done to ensure that the world of work is a focus for our whole education system – colleges are already leading the way in supporting schools to raise their game in this arena.”
Peter Roberts, chair of the 157 Group and chief executive of Leeds City College, said, “The title of the report, and its emphasis on collaboration, reflects the reality that we will achieve a world-class skills system only through people working together. It is remarkable that a large coalition of organisations has agreed upon the five principles in this report, and that should send a clear signal to policymakers that the real key to success lies in enabling employers and educational professionals to act with autonomy and freedom.
“The freedom to innovate, in an atmosphere free from top-down political interference, is what will enable real quality improvement. The report acknowledges the primacy of local accountability and the fallacy of focusing educational accountability on qualifications alone. With this in mind, we know that the best solutions will be those delivered ‘from the bottom-up’, and we hope that politicians of all parties will heed this message.”