English and maths may well be key to learning, but let’s not forget the practical skills of time management, teamwork and communications, according to Graham Hasting-Evans of the National Open College Network (NOCN)

Hardly a day goes by without the government, business groups or some MP having their say on the state of our education system, schools and exams.

We all know education is essential and our politicians need to set the policy agenda. However, we must get it right for the 21st Century not try to fix the problems of the 20th century.

It is critical we also listen to employers about the skills they need our young people to have – evidenced in the debates last week at the CBI Conference with its calls for more vocational educations and a focus on employability skills.

Education Secretary Michael Gove is particularly verbose with personal words of wisdom on teaching and learning – they litter the pages of the more serious daily newspapers.

I’m not sure whether anyone has already coined the phrase ‘Goveism’, but I’m going to use it now.

The last few weeks have been particularly prolific for ‘Goveisms‘. But one that Mr Gove is particularly focused on is learning by rote.

It comes up time and again, and to us at the National Open College Network (NOCN) it’s particularly disturbing.

The dictionary definition of rote is: “A memorising process using routine or repetition, often without full attention or comprehension.”

How scary a thought is that? Can you imagine an electrician or a doctor repeating procedures without comprehension?

I don’t mean to be flippant but there’s a time and a place for rote, and I don’t think the 21st Century, in our schools and colleges, qualify. We need to prepare our young people for the global skills market that is already upon us.

Indeed, Louise Robinson, president of the Girls’ School Association, argued schools should prepare pupils for the Star Trek society of the 2020s rather than look back at the 1950s and 60s.

I have to agree, but with 2020 just eight years away, I believe we should be more ambitious for our young people’s futures.

Schools and colleges need to focus on ensuring that young people have the necessary skills to become productive members of the workforce – and by workforce I don’t mean ‘blue collar’ factory workers who perform their tasks by ‘rote’ – those days are long gone.

Our workforce is one of diversity and innovators, and innovation doesn’t evolve through rote learning.

People need to be able to take responsibility, use their initiative and react to constantly-changing circumstances.

Our future is global. Britain was recently ranked the most powerful nation on Earth.

Monocle magazine’s annual Global Soft Power survey, published this month, ranks nations according to their standard of government, diplomatic infrastructure, cultural output, capacity for education and appeal to business. They placed Britain top.

The global jobs market is already in place for millions of Britons and we need to equip our young people to compete with the best from other nations.

Such 21st Century skills are learned by practical exercises that engage and excite young people and integrate the necessary skills within exercises and activities that can be applied to real life situations. And certainly not by rote.

But these skills aren’t just the domain of post-16 learning – primary schools should be looking to their pupils’ futures too.

Young people need crucial “employability” skills as identified by the employer organisations. The Confederation of British Industry, Federation of Small Businesses, British Chambers of Commerce and employers themselves – and increasingly universities – are calling for these skills, too.

Such skills include English and maths, but also IT, time management, teamwork, communications, problem-solving and, crucially, a work ethic – one that’s not just about turning up on time and not going off sick every Friday.

The future workforce needs to be reliable, show initiative and pursue new skills because these aren’t just skills for work they’re skills for a successful life.

Graham Hasting-Evans, managing director of National Open College Network (NOCN)

Agreeing to chair a group setting up yet another representative body for FE is probably a career-limiting move unless there is a very good reason for another one. So I am pleased to say I think there is indeed a great need for a new body to take a leadership role in FE and I am excited by the unique opportunity we have to enhance the status and reputation of the sector.

The challenge we face in FE is huge because the world is changing rapidly around us and we need to serve young people and adults who are grappling with changes in society, work and technology which can sometimes seem bewildering.

We need to develop the sector to be fleet of foot, to keep up with changes in work, to use technology to deliver learning which equips people with the skills they will need to keep learning and be resilient to the changes around them.

The best in the sector do this day in day out, so we know that FE can do it, but we need stronger leadership and focus from employers, practitioners and their representative bodies to set standards which everyone aspires to.

The new guild provides us with the chance for the sector to come together just as the government and its agencies have retreated.

It also represents a moment of truth for the FE sector.

Can the sector take responsibility, collectively for its own future when part of its very strength is the diversity of organisations and learners in it?

I believe the diversity of learning, learners and organisations in FE should be celebrated as a key strength and that a new guild can play a leadership role across it.

A clear focus on delivering and supporting great learning to all adults across their lives will bind and unite the diverse voices, interests and organisations.

What we need is for employers and practitioners and the organisations which represent them to come together to make this work on behalf of the adults and young people who are served by the sector.

I am certain we can develop a new organisation which advances professionalism, improves leadership and governance and helps to deliver even better learning opportunities across England.

It will be this clarity of purpose which we will use to bring people together and keep us all focussed.

I believe the diversity of learning, learners and organisations in FE should be celebrated”

I was invited to chair the steering group, I believe, for two reasons. Firstly, because of the unique place and purpose of National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) in advocating more, different and better learning for all adults.

This means we are not representing any particular interest group, other than learners.

Secondly, I hope that I have a reputation for getting things done and there is a lot of work to be done in order to build consensus about the purpose, role, structure and governance of the FE Guild and I hope to be one of the people driving that forward over the coming months.

We are planning now for an intense period of engagement with employers and practitioners and representative bodies to debate and discuss what the FE Guild should focus on, how it should be set-up and what the governance arrangements will look like.

That debate and discussion needs to be thorough and professional and I would urge everyone with any interest in FE to get involved.

We cannot afford for people with positive ideas and contributions not to come forward in the new year to enter the debate. Part of my role as chair of the steering group is to support an inclusive process in which all views are heard.

Our aim is to have the guild up-and-running in mid-2013, starting to develop its role and its activities and having an impact in the next academic year.

In order to achieve that we will work hard, consult properly, listen well and be decisive because all of us came into FE to support and deliver great learning and the guild can take a critical leadership role in achieving that.

David Hughes, NIACE chief executive and chair of the FE Guild steering group