It is fitting that, two days after Nick Boles announced he was stepping down as skills minister, the cover feature in today’s TES (article free for subscribers) focuses on the country that appears to have shaped his thinking around further education and skills the most: Norway.
When the Sainsbury review was announced, the Norwegian system was cited as one of the examples of international excellence that the UK was looking to emulate. While aspects of several different countries’ systems of vocational education and training (VET) can be discerned in the review published one week ago, it cannot be denied that the remit handed to the independent panel of experts behind it was shaped in no small way by Mr Boles’ oft-mentioned admiration for Norway’s skills system.
For one, the simple pathways for different industries, running from the age of 16, through college- or apprenticeship-based training, into employment. If you’ve read the Sainsbury review - described by the government as the biggest reform of post-16 education since the introduction of A levels - this may sound familiar.
One reform too many?
FE providers around the country could be forgiven for thinking that this sounds like one reform too many. With the Skills Plan now sitting on top of area reviews and the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in CEOs’ in trays, many working in FE can legitimately argue that they have no idea what they will be teaching, where they will be teaching it or how it will be funded in a couple of years’ time.
But at least it must be welcomed that the Skills Plan finally offers the prospect of a coherent system of post-16 education, with 15 new technical routes offering straightforward progression from GCSEs to the workplace.
I was fortunate enough to visit Oslo a few weeks ago to witness the Norwegian system for myself.
And, other than touring the building site for what will be the spectacular new museum housing the assorted paintings of Edvard Munch, the highlight was undoubtedly learning about the benefits brought by having a stable, clearly mapped-out structure for post-16 education that actively involves schools in delivering VET in partnership with employers.
Profound cultural shift
Norway has a proud history of cultivating skilled labour and preparing its young people for the world of work. This tradition survived the country’s profound cultural shift during the second half of the 20th century - from being a poor nation lagging behind its Northern European neighbours to one flush with oil revenues and looking confidently towards the future.
The clear understanding of what an apprenticeship is, and the journey it represents, is something that we in the UK have lost in the push for quantity at the expense of quality, first through Train to Gain and then the explosion in apprenticeships in the early days of the coalition.
This target-obsessed behaviour of politicians continues with the goal of facilitating 3 million apprenticeship starts by the next general election. This short-term target will inevitably trump the desire for longer-term cohesion in our skills system.
But, for coming up with a workable (funding permitting, of course) plan to create a clear and logical structure for post-16 education, Lord Sainsbury and his fellow panel members deserve much credit. Now it’s down to the government to put this plan into practice - whichever ministers find themselves in charge at the newly expanded Department for Education.
This week’s TES cover feature on what the UK can learn from VET in Norway can be read here (article free for subscribers).
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