Expert Contributor | FE Week

FE wasn’t overlooked in the new year’s honours

FE was poorly represented in this year’s honours not because it was overlooked, but because the sector failed to submit enough nominations, says Dame Asha Khemka. The FE sector was sadly lacking profile in the most recent new year’s honours. Some point to this as yet another example of how the sector generally lacks profile […]

Apprentice targets should cross administrative boundaries

We are failing to meet apprenticeship targets in construction due to some ridiculous barriers that should simply be removed, says Jeremy Rabinovitch. Apprentices are the lifeblood of the economy. These are people who want to work yet don’t want to spend years learning something without being guaranteed a job. Apprenticeships can provide fantastic opportunities both […]

FE holds the key to 2017’s global skills challenges

Building a world-class skills training system is entirely within our grasp if it is properly supported and prioritised, says Carole Stott. To say that 2016 was an eventful year is an understatement. There can scarcely be a person whose life will not be touched in some way by its momentous events. There is little that […]

Wellbeing applies to staff as well as students

Improving staff wellbeing is not only vital to college success, it’s our moral duty as FE leaders, says Stuart Rimmer At the recent AOC annual conference, its president Ian Ashman declared 2016/17 the year of mental health in FE. This was an important, welcome and long overdue step that has been superbly received by the […]

How big should the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education be?

It’s time to create a directory of all the apprenticeship standards and technical qualifications that need to be developed, says Graham Hasting-Evans. In order to establish how big the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education should to be, we need to know how many apprenticeship standards and technical qualifications will have to be developed, quality-assured […]

English language classes funding is not a luxury

The Casey Report is right to fight for the cause of English for Speakers of Other Languages courses –improving social integration is an essential public service, says Jenny Roden. After much anticipation, speculation and delay Dame Louise Casey’s review into integrating isolated communities was finally published this week. Optimistically entitled ‘A review into opportunity and […]

Apprenticeships not cheap labour

When some apprentices are not even given quality training, the 10p increase to the apprentice wage is a sham, says Shakira Martin. Based on the last few months, you’d think the government was gearing up to put some of the money that’s been taken from further education back in. We’ve had the introduction of the […]

Let’s keep pushing to make TFE bill better

The end of 2016 will feel like a much bigger occasion than other years. It’s been a relentless rollercoaster of emotions. So much so that I now hesitate before checking my phone when a news alert goes off, wondering what 2016 could possibly throw at us next. I’ve also seen people blaming their own clumsy […]

For Prevent to succeed, we can’t ignore religion

With Prevent and British values still in the spotlight, now is a bad time to lose the National Council of Faiths and Beliefs in Further Education, says Sam Parrett. As we approach the end of an extremely busy term, and indeed year, I am saddened to learn that the National Council of Faiths and Beliefs […]