City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development / Supply & Demand / Supply & Demand

Can governments only offer supply-driven solutions to a demand-led problem?

Taiye Aro — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:54:13 GMT

Can Governments only offer supply-driven solutions to a demand-led problem?

How can issues of supply & demand be addressed at an international level?

Taiye Aro — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:45:33 GMT

How do you think issues of supply & demand can be addressed at an international level?

Can forecasting demand ever be accurate?

Taiye Aro — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:38:53 GMT

Do you think forecasting demand can be totally accurate?

How can Governments predict future skills needs?

Taiye Aro — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:32:36 GMT

How can Governments predict future skills needs?

It's time to empower practitioners!

Kate Shoesmith — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:12:56 GMT

[size="2"][i][b][u][url=http://www.skillsdevelopment.org/PDF/1306_CFSD_Practitioners_Report_v12.pdf]Practitioners’ Voices: Understanding their role within a demand-led system[/url][/b][/u] [/i](2009, UK)

The report, published by the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development, calls for the UK Government to involve practitioners (the trainers, teachers, coaches and mentors who deliver education and training) in the development of policy at a local, regional and national level.

Other recommendations included that:

Provision is made for a purely vocational route post-14 that sits alongside 14-19 Diplomas and Apprenticeships.
Local practitioners’ expert knowledge of local needs are taken into account.
Communication channels should be put in place to help practitioners, and through them the SMEs that they work with, engage more effectively.
A more inclusive stakeholder engagement model for qualification development must be put in place.

We’d like to hear your views on the report:

•Are colleges and training providers the key to creating a truly demand-led system?
•Should the UK Government seek to actively involve practitioners in developing policy at local, regional and national level to better understand the needs of learners and local employers?
•How much freedom should the further education sector be given to meet the needs of learners and employers?
[/size]

POLL: Do you think practitioners should have more involvement in skills development?

Taiye Aro — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:11:47 GMT

Do you think practitioners should have more involvement in skills development? We would like to hear your views.

POLL: Do you agree with the report "Practitioners’ Voices: Understanding their role within a demand-led system" recommendations?

Taiye Aro — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:57:07 GMT

Do you agree with the report: [url=http://www.skillsdevelopment.org.uk/PDF/1306_CFSD_Practitioners_Report_v12.pdf][b][i][u]Practitioners’ Voices: Understanding their role within a demand-led system [/u][/i][/b][/url]recommendations? We would like to hear your views.

Conservative Party Conference Roundtable

Chris Gale — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:54:27 GMT

At the Conservative Party Conference on 30th September, The City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development hosted a round table discussion, entitled ‘Letting the market decide? Achieving a genuinely demand-led system in vocational education’.

The greatest economic resource the UK has in the 21st Century is its people. To compete with the emerging economic powers of China and India, however, we now face a challenge: how can we release the true economic potential of our people? This means not just raising the skill levels of the British workforce, but ensuring that the skills developed are the ones employers need, at the level they need them.

Policy makers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of ensuring that training provision is tailored to meet the demands of the labour market. Nonetheless, we are still not getting this right. Recent research by the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development found that, of nine countries surveyed around the world, UK employers were the least likely to believe that vocational education and training gets individuals ready for the workplace.

If the UK is to retain its place as a leading global economic power, measures are needed to engage employers and to give them a real role in developing the skills profile of the UK’s future workforce. Arguably, the current Government’s initiatives have focused on old-style targets and international comparisons rather than allowing market forces to decide training provision. It is not clear how this sits with the Government’s stated aim of moving towards a demand-led system, or, indeed, if targets for upskilling the nation by 2020 are achievable. Importantly, one of the key areas of concern for employers – the shortfall in soft skills – is not one that can easily be addressed with target mechanisms.

Finally, it remains unclear how policy goals can be married to the individual interests of businesses. Employers – particularly SMEs – may not necessarily see the need to improve the overall skill level in their sector as a priority, especially when compared to the more immediate imperatives of their own profit and efficiency. Indeed, they may be reluctant to train if they feel their employees are likely to take their new skills elsewhere as soon as they have completed their training. Research shows, however, that provision of training by employers can help promote high morale and loyalty in employees. Achieving a demand-led system means to some extent changing perceptions of training issues by employers and promoting a better understanding of employer interests.

We discussed the following questions during the debate:

1. How can the needs of employers be balanced with what learners want to study and what providers are able to deliver?

2.Do mechanisms such as SSCs provide an adequate vehicle for employers to lead decisions on training provision? If not, how can they be improved?

3.Are upskilling goals from Government compatible with more immediate business objectives? If so, how can employers be convinced that Government is working in their best interests and be encouraged to engage in developments?

4.Is the refocusing of Train to Gain resources on apprenticeships sufficient to promote workplace-based training? What other mechanisms might help?

5.How can the soft skills challenge be tackled?

6.How can we raise the esteem in which vocational education is held, to encourage young people to enter skills training?

[b]We are now inviting other stakeholders to participate in the debate on this forum, ahead of the release of a report from the roundtable event.[/b]