Ed Melia:
Welcome to the next in our series of NIACE podcasts. The final weeks of 2006
have been dominated by the publication of the Leitch review of skills. NIACE’s
annual policy conference ‘Skills Demography and the British Economy’ brought
over 200 delegates together to discuss their reactions to Leitch. Five of the
speakers from the conference talk about their initial responses and consider the
challenges ahead. Starting with Professor Stephen McNair of the Centre for
Research into the Older Workforce:
Stephen McNair :
‘Behind Leitch there is a really exciting and radical vision of adult learning
which we have been arguing for in many ways for the last 20 years. Particularly,
taking adult learning seriously.’
Geraldine Kenney-Wallace:
‘My name is Geraldine Kenney-Wallace and I am from City and Guilds. Leitch is
very important. It is resonant totally with our mantra ‘skills for posterity’
because Leitch puts an urgent focus on skills and competitiveness, links it
explicitly to the way the markets work and this is the first time we have seen
such clarity in that link.’
Alan Tuckett:
‘I am Alan Tuckett, the director of the National Body for Adult Learning,
NIACE. The best thing about Leitch is it puts a proper focus on the need for
more investment by everybody in adult learning, that’s the core of it. I like
its stretching targets. I like the things it has to say about a national careers
service. I really like the threat in there that if employers don’t act
reasonably in the next 2 or 3 years there will be a statutory entitlement to
training.’
Carol Gibson:
‘I am Carol Gibson, principle of Waltham Forest College. We know that
without the focus on skills this country will not get to the levels of well
being and prosperity that we are aiming at but we also know the impact for
individuals of improving their skills base, improving their qualifications base
and how that results improved personal circumstances and financial circumstances
and the ability to participate fully in different aspects of society.’
Stephen Hillier:
‘Hello, I am Stephen Hilliar and I am director of Adult Skills in the DfES.
For us it is a fantastic report. It sets out a brilliant high-skills vision for
the future. It is farsighted in taking through to 2020.’
Ed Melia:
‘No-one is under any illusion, however, about the challenges that await
government, employers, providers and individuals.’
Geraldine Kenney-Wallace:
‘One of the pieces of legislation which may come out of it, but we won’t
know until 2010, is what is going to be voluntary and what it going to be a
statutory entitlement. The challenge is working with employers, working with
individuals, working with the various government organisations to make us
perform so well on a voluntary basis we don’t require legislation in 2010
because if we get there that means we have understood the message and we have
embedded it in ourselves. We are not going to wait to be told by government what
to do.’
Alan Tuckett:
‘The things I am disappointed about in it are a failure to discriminate
between the needs of workers in general and the older workforce and I think that
it is impressive about its strategies for people who are on benefit but what
about people who are outside the labour force altogether currently but are a
future source of work. It’s curiously silent on language needs, on minority
ethnic communities and on migration.’
Carol Gibson:
‘We need to make sure that we are developing the kinds of skills of critical
thinking, self-development, flexibility, adaptability, that will enable somebody
to respond to different aspects of their lives as well as the number of jobs
that they are going to hold down during their lifetime and therefore the need to
acquire different skills.’
Stephen Hillier :
‘It is also about sharing the concept, sharing the vision, changing the culture
in the UK to one where we really values skills and understand their part.’
Geraldine Kenney-Wallace:
‘Individuals acquire through their qualifications life opportunities in many
different ways and they will contribute more positively to the productivity of a
company. A company that is more productive competes more effectively in the
global market place and we have heard a huge amount about change. It is not
coming, it is here now, hence the sense of urgency.’
Carol Gibson:
‘We have a place to enter into a really strong dialogue with people. If we
look at ourselves as the fount of all wisdom we have got it badly wrong. If we
look at it as partners who can learn together and support one another and change
and adapt then we will get it right.’