Much has been made of the idea of “parity of esteem” between vocational and academic study. But few of us would question the fact that, at this point, it simply doesn’t exist.
How many parents aspire for their high-achieving child to attend the local college? How many teachers suggest to their straight-A students that they may want to consider an apprenticeship?
This is about the ambitions and inspirations young people are exposed to, and the role models they encounter. One way to tackle the situation, some believe, is to put children into different groups early on in their school careers, sending some towards vocational training, alongside peers who are likely to follow the same path.
This week TES reported on a call by two Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr to “split up” children at an early age, to avoid those who are less academic being “forced into somewhere they ultimately won’t be so interested in” and where they “will not do so well”.
Having gone through the German school system, I know that approach very well. Children are split at the end of primary school, often into two different school forms - one aiming to prepare students for university, the other with a much more vocational focus. And while there are fundamental flaws in this strategy, there are some advantages.
Much of Germany’s economic success is built on its vocational training system and those who have followed this route. The vocational system is highly reputable - seen by many as not just equal but even superior to some degree courses.
Importantly, at school level, the system also makes for more homogenous classes, and shared aspirations among many pupils. Offering higher education in FE colleges provides some of the same benefits.
Learning ‘among peers’
Today’s report, commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation, highlights that about one in 10 higher education students in 2013-14 was enrolled in a college - 156,610 in total. Of those, a fifth were from the most deprived 20 per cent of society - compared with only one in six at university.
Many of them will simply not have had the qualifications required to enter university immediately. But we also know that many college HE students feel university is not for “people like them”, and would likely have chosen a vocational setting “among peers” over a university route even if they were given the option.
The HE in FE system here echoes many of the advantages of an approach where children are split up. But sadly the parallels do not extend to the esteem this route is held in by society.
HE provision at colleges is integral to widening access. But we cannot simply see it as a way into HE for those from non-traditional backgrounds. Instead, it should be viewed as a highly valuable route in its own right and for its own sake.
The key to changing perceptions is enabling colleges to tailor, develop and embed their HE provision - ideally without being dependent on universities for accreditation of the qualifications they offer.
This is not about creating competition between the FE and HE systems. Instead, it may go some way to making sure that all routes in the education system are judged on their quality, and not on the type of institution they are delivered in.
@JBelgutay
This is an article from the 22 April edition of TES. This week’s TES magazine is available in all good newsagents. To subscribe, click here. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here
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