Further Education in the United Kingdom: the Consequences of Neglect
More than half teenagers and adults in the UK are denied further education. A radical policy change is necessary to remove the existing divisions between education and training. The new policy must create opportunities for all, irrespective of class, race or gender.
The point persistently missed is that, unless individual needs for an enhanced level of personal and general education are met, for millions of people there is no prospect of vocational training leading to nationally recognised qualifications. There has been no serious attempt to bridge the gap between the limited attainment of millions when they leave school and the level of education needed to acquire vocational qualifications.
The Consequences of Neglect
Gordon Brown’s government is, understandably, pre-occupied with the recession. However, it is essential to recognise the danger of education policies which deny suitable education for the majority of teenagers and adults.. Continuing neglect in a period of high unemployment will undoubtedly lead to a rise in crime and social unrest.
The best means of tackling crime is not to build more prisons, but to provide the kind of further education which enables the unqualified to obtain jobs when the economy recovers. Young people drift into crime not because they are born criminals, but because society denies them the opportunity to compete in the job market.
They are unable to obtain employment because they lack the level of education required to be accepted on study programmes leading to recognised qualifications. Unsurprisingly, those denied opportunities are overwhelmingly working class.
What they require, because they have been neglected at school, is basic skills tuition, especially literacy and numeracy, to enable them to join vocational programmes of study.
The Policy Solution
Radical policy changes for education at 16 plus are essential and urgent. They must remove the current divisions between education and training and between academic and vocational studies. They must also ensure that suitable curriculum is developed for all, irrespective of class, race or gender.
In particular the new policy must tackle institutional racism, which is the reason thousands of applicants are rejected. This will require a system of funding with the most generous allocation to those in greatest need – the opposite of the present system which awards the greatest funding to the most highly qualified.
The recession and high unemployment must not be used as reasons for delay: both are reasons for urgent action.
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