A National System for Qualified Assessment
I'd like to share a few thoughts on the qualified assessment of all 16-24 year olds who are not in education or training: which I believe is essential for these young people's future. From what I have heard so far, the biggest challenge to qualified assessment for non-graduates; is not that they don't receive it. The challenge, is that assessment depends on the initiative of the training provider or funding organization.
For example, a school may recommend some of its pupils or students for assessment, and funding or training programmes will then be put in place, to give them certificate qualifications. But only these young people will benefit from it. There may be others in nearby schools, or in the vicinity, who need the same opportunities. The system as a whole, I believe, is too reactive.
The answer should be to ensure that qualified assessment forms an integral part of every youth service. I believe that there must be one national standard of assessment: so that every 16-24 year old non-graduate, who comes into contact with a youth organization, is offered a free full assessment of their skills and abilities. Any ungraded skills should be assessed and qualified, in exactly the same way as for apprentices.
There are of course, certificate qualifications which are already awarded by youth organizations in this way, to reflect general potential - such as a certificate in Personal Achievement, or Mentoring Learner Driver. But from my work for businesses, I know that employers are often looking for a specific skill set, and want specific qualifications to prove this. That is why it is important to offer non-graduates the chance to qualify for transferable, QCF certificates in specialized skills: such as customer service, manual handling or admin experience.
And we shouldn't delay in setting this up. From what I have read, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, 17.4 children in the UK, now live below the poverty line. This is not acceptable. Children who are born into poverty may be given food, clothing or shelter. But their need for opportunity is just as important. Without a good education or training for a career, they may be held down, and denied a future. And there is one important thing we can do to help with this.
Every 16-24 year old must be given the opportunity to prove themselves, by gaining qualifications that reflect their skills. The disadvantaged have no illusions about the challenges they face. Most of the non-graduates I have known have had to work from a young age, and some have worked their way up to have good careers.
If their grades reflected their actual skill level, I submit that most non-graduates actually have many skills from work experience they have had: and if these skills are confirmed by certificate qualifications, they would have the right grades to land the entry level jobs and progression needed for a good career.
So I invite all youth workers and others who want to help, to join our Forum, and see how we can make this happen. You are welcome to visit the pages shown on the links to the side of this page.
Let's set the standard for young people's careers.
Best Regards
James M
Founder
Let's Build Bridges
There are many bridges we can build
Wednesday 24 June 2015
Tuesday 16 June 2015
Update for June 2015
Hi All
Here's a quick update on Let's Build Bridges' progress so far for the month of June.
Thanks to the youth workers for joining this Forum. Your insight into youth services will be a great help for non-graduates' opportunities. From what I have been told by UK Youth, there are currently 5 certificate qualifications that non-graduates can be assessed for. While this is great for their career opportunities, I submit that if non-graduates were assessed for every skill - in much the same way as for apprentices, and for all the same skills - then they would be able to prove themselves, by gaining a lot of certificate qualifications.
As non-graduates have told me, they have worked jobs, that have given them ungraded skills and experience. So the challenge now, is for us to find a way to integrate qualified assessment - for all skills - into the support services that 16-24 year old non-graduates now receive. I know that this will give young people the fighting chance they need for decent careers, and I welcome the youth workers' thoughts on how we can achieve this.
On the knowledge transfer side, I am pushing to make sure that all students are being given the work experience they need to get a decent career for when they graduate. I would like to see student work experience be made a compulsory part of higher education, as students will need this to compete with experienced apprentices, for jobs. With this in mind, I have written an open letter to all UK universities and colleges, making the case for compulsory student work experience. I have so far had several replies, from careers officers, and look forward to hearing from the rest.
What would really help the students, I think; would be to keep a national list, of colleges/schools within each university, whose students are still looking for work experience. This would be like a league table for opportunities, and could be used as a kind of checklist, to make sure all students had had their chance. The list could then be matched with another list of businesses whose owners are prepared to offer it. According to what staff from Prospects magazine and NASES have told me, there is not yet a national list like this. But I think it would be helpful to have one.
On the job creation side, I am very pleased to report that the Gorilla Opportunity database has now had over 6,000 views on Google+, and is attracting long term investment opportunities, from within the business community:
Google+ (‘Gorilla Opportunity’ Start-Ups Database)
The Gorilla database exists to empower entrepreneurs with a Toolkit to start new businesses, and hence, is an enterprise in its own right. The project has been a great success. But let's not lose sight of its ultimate aim: to create jobs, and also to give adults a chance to feel valued.
So there has been a lot of progress, but I look forward to hearing members' feedback on all these issues. You are welcome to discuss with me and with each other. Our efforts will help the opportunities of both young people and adults.
Best Regards to All
James M
Founder
Links:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)