Government policies on further education funding, curriculum and staffing are under the spotlight in a new wide-ranging inquiry launched by parliament’s education committee today.
MPs have opened a call for evidence with 21 areas of interest including “funding issues” in apprenticeships, GCSE resits, the FE workforce, barriers for SEND learners, attainment gaps and mental health support for students.
Education committee chair Helen Hayes said: “In this inquiry, we will listen to both the education sector and figures from industry and public services to investigate how DfE could design a new way of doing FE that helps young people into the careers they desire, serves vital sectors that struggle to recruit, and catalyses growth across the country.”
Individual policies, like capital investment, T Levels and the role of Skills England, will be scrutinised. The inquiry’s terms of reference also asks for much broader evidence around how to improve student outcomes, how to “resolve the skills shortage,” and improving collaboration with employers and local authorities.
Anyone can submit written evidence by the March 7 deadline. It is expected sector figures will be invited to answer questions from committee members in oral evidence hearings later this year.
Long way off parity
The inquiry comes amid industrial unrest due to growing pay gap between teachers in schools and colleges.
Rising numbers of young people not in education, employment and training are also on the committee’s radar as new figures next month are expected to show the number of 16-24 year-olds who are NEET has surpassed a million.
The committee scored an early win this year when education ministers seemingly heeded their advice not to proceed with plans to remove funding from level 3 qualifications that rival T Levels in the short term.
Hayes added: “In recent years I have seen a political consensus develop that technical education deserves parity of esteem with A levels and routes into university. But on the ground we are a long way off from this being a reality, and the further education sector has instead experienced real terms funding cuts and continued uncertainty about the qualifications they can offer.
“We will also look at how FE settings can support students with mental health and SEND to deliver better outcomes, particularly for the young people who are the most at risk of falling out of education, training and employment.”
A new way of doing FE ! I don’t think so in terms of the national skills agenda if you continue to present minority driven headlines offering little for the majority yet again!
What do you mean ?
Well, isn’t fixing the shambles of an apprenticeship system and supporting the skills needs of all employers and their current and future employees the key priority? If so why does staff pay and student mental health support come before this in the headline?
Staff pay really means FE College staff who provide the minority support to apprenticeships! It is not arguing against equal treatment of FE college staff with teachers in schools. It is highlighting for what purpose !
I do hope also that the students in need of mental health support are in the minority too. However, in this insane world we find ourselves in these days maybe they are not !
A good starting point would be clearly defining the difference between education and training, the purpose of each and what we expect to get from each!
The problem with recruiting Tutors/Assessors and IV’s for construction Apprentices has to be the pay gap between industry and FE. Unless you are near retirement or have sustained an injury that would make staying in industry too painful for an individual, qualified experienced people are unlikely to make the move to FE when they know they would find themselves 10 to 15K a year poorer. Most Colleges do not class Assessors/IV’s as teaching staff and so the pay gap for those who could become Assessors/IV’s is also something that needs to be taken into account. .