BrieFEd takes a break…

Image: 'Treasure Hunters Tools'

BrieFEd will be taking a break until the start of August.  See you soon and thanks for reading me.

Skills Wales: Developing confidence

Western Mail, 10.07.08

A4e Wales’ executive director, Phil Silverstone outlines what he believes is wrong with the FE sector in Wales.  A4e are one of the UK’s largest providers of training and employment opportunities.

In this article, Phil Silverstone is highly critical of further education colleges in their ability to respond to the needs of business in Wales.  As a result he suggests that FEIs should be subject to more external pressure and competition.

Mr. Silverston makes a number of proposals including: harnessing the expertise of the voluntary and community sector; charging for “leisure or hobby learning”; greater investment from employers; and the formation of a “Wales skills and employment board to form a channel for employer-led intelligence”.

To read more of Phil Silverstone’s thoughts click here.

College worries end with takeover

Welsh College of Horticulture

BBC Website 10.07.08

The troubled Welsh College of Horticulture (WCOH) has been taken over by Deeside College and the Wrexham-based North East Wales Institute (Newi). 

Governors said the existing college would cease to exist, but had an “exciting new future”. The Welsh Assembly Government has welcomed the move as “great news”.

Responsibility for further education and work-based learning will be transferred to Deeside College.

For more on this story click here.

FE Funding: political battle hots up

Yale College

As the reality of the new funding settlement for FE colleges in Wales begins to bite, politicians are starting to turn their attention to the plight of the sector. 

In North Wales, Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths (Labour) has outlined the plight of Yale College which has just been forced to offer redundancies to 23 managers. The BBC reports on their website that she has asked Skills Minister John Griffiths why Yale College has received such a poor financial settlement. In her statement she says:

“I am very concerned about the 23 voluntary redundancies recently announced by Yale College in light of this funding settlement and am particularly concerned that students are going to be affected with proposals to stop certain courses altogether, reduce teaching hours and not replace staff vacancies.”

The AM appears to be less concerned with the total amount given to colleges and more concerned with its distribution.  This draws a response from a Welsh Assembly Government spokesperson who counters:
“All of this is part of a movement from an old method of funding FE institutions to a new more effective method. Institutions have been aware of the changes planned since 2004.”  See: Protest at “poor” college funding (1.07.08) 

Criticism has also been drawn from less unexpected sources namely Lib Dem politicians.  Peter Black in his blog criticises the Assembly for its funding of education in Wales in general and further education in particular:

“Further Education Colleges play a vital role delivering the Government’s skills agenda and yet they have been starved of cash in recent years. This years increase in their funding was barely above one per cent. As a result they are having to cut courses and make staff redundant.”

Similarly, Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidate Mark Young asks 20 questions of the Welsh Assembly Government of which the fourth is: How does cutting FE funding help boost skills?

Away from politicians, Professor Dylan Jones-Evans in his always thought-provoking blog makes the point in his post “Education, education, education”: “With thousands of jobs being lost in the manufacturing sector, the last thing we can afford to do is to cut the funding to our universities, schools and colleges at a time when it critical to develop the skilled workers of the future who will grow our indigenous businesses and act as the magnet for high value overseas firms.”

Facebook, podcasts and learning

Two stories from the Guardian caught my eye this week, both relating to information learning technologies (ILT). 

The first article by Anthea Lipsett, “Facebook a valid educational tool, teachers told” 25.06.08, features a report by Childnet International and funded by BECTA.  The report, Young people and social networking services, evaluates the potential educational benefits to individual users, as well as outlining some of the opportunities of social networking services to schools and colleges. Whilst many schools and colleges block sites such as Bebo and Facebook from their networks, the report suggests that these social networking sites should be embraced and used to connect with students.

Stephen Carrick-Davies, the chief executive of Childnet International, is quoted as saying:

“The phenomenal speed at which the internet is developing and the rapid take up of new web 2.0 services by young people can be challenging.

“However, it’s vital that all of us really take the time to understand the way students are using the latest technology, the various features of these new services and appreciate how these new tools can aid good social interaction and learning.”

The other article again by Anthea Lipsett, “Qualification in podcasting launched” 25.06.08, describes a new qualification from the NCFE (formerly the Northern Council for Further Education) which will allow learners to investigate the process of planning, preparing and producing a podcast. 

NEETS, Youth Justice and FE

Two reports recently published indicate that despite considerable investment, services to young people who are not in employed or undertaking full-time education or training, need to be improved. 

In Wales, a recent Estyn reportshows that between April 2006 and March 2007 only 59% of young offenders in Wales were in full-time education, training or employment.  The target set by the Youth Justice Board was 90%.  Moira Sharkey of the Western Mail 19.06.08 reports on this in her article “More education help needed for young offenders”

This follows last month’s report by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) at King’s College London, which concluded that despite an investment of £650 million a decade-long government drive to cut youth offending has had “no measurable impact”.  See BBC website 21.05.08 Youth crime drive has “no impact”.

On a more positive note however, John Griffiths, Deputy Minister for Skills in the Welsh Assembly Government writes in the Western Mail 05.06.08 “Finding a future – taking the ‘N’ out of NEET” 

He outlines the strategy the WAG will take in a themed report, he states,  ”The problems and barriers facing these youngsters are highlighted in our pivotal skills and employment strategy “Skills that Work for Wales,” which will deliver against the One Wales vision of a prosperous society with full employment.”

More locally, (that is, if you live in Swansea)  the South Wales Evening Post 9.05.08 is able to report on a successful scheme which has halved youth crime.

Further Reading:

Estyn Report: Meeting the learning needs of children and young people who offend

Centre for Crime and Justice Studies: Ten years of Labour’s youth justice reforms: an independent audit by Enver Solomon and Richard Garside.

Welsh Assembly Government Reducing the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training in Wales

Cash crisis puts FE in Wales at risk

Recently there have been three stories in the Welsh press highlighting the recent financial settlement to further education colleges in Wales. 

Less than a quarter of colleges will get an above-inflation increase but the majority are facing decreases in real terms.  It is estimated that job losses as a result of this settlement could be as high as 300.

The BBC website looks at the political fallout from the settlement in its story College fund fears spark protest  in which Ian Rees, Principal of Coleg Meiron Dwyfor states:

“We welcome the Webb report and the skills report - we want to respond to that but it’s becoming more and more difficult because of the requirements are going up, the charges are increasing and the funding is going down - so to my mind that just don’t add up.”

The North Wales perspective continues in the Daily Post’s article: Cash crisis puts education in Wales at risk.  This time, Fran Hopwood, assistant principal at Yale college in Wrexham, states:

“We are thwarted from working with employers to deliver wider options for 14-19-year-olds. We are delivering excellent provision against the odds.”

Meanwhile, John Graystone, chief executive of fforwm, uses his regular column in the Western Mail to highlight the situation colleges find themselves in: providing excellence, exceeding government targets and being rewarded with a cut of £3.5 million.  The achievements in FE in Wales as outlined in this polemic are quite startling and are well worth a read.

GCSE and A-level papers stolen

BBC Website, 1.05.08

The AQA exam board is re-setting 40 papers in 15 subjects after thieves stole a van carrying papers due to be sat in the next few weeks.

The Parcelforce delivery van - which was unmarked - was stolen in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, on 15 April.

Two people were unloading the van, police say, when a man jumped into the driving seat and drove away.

The van was later found near Borehamwood, with some parcels still inside and some nearby. Some of the exam papers were recovered, but some were missing.

To read more on this story click here.

Briefing Wales March 2008

  Tomorrow is the first day in May and only now am I bringing to your attention March’s Briefing: Wales, Dysg’s quarterly newsletter.  However, it is packed with relevant articles including an interview with Sir Adrian Webb, an article on the Skills that Work for Wales consultation and a regular statistics update. It also includes a FE college’s (Deeside College) perspective on the road to excellence and an update on the quality improvement Fund.

The newsletter can be downloaded here.

College governors ‘face the sack’

BBC Website, 24.04.08

A college’s board of governors face dismissal in an unprecedented Welsh Assembly Government intervention.

Governors at the Welsh College of Horticulture in Flintshire face removal after ministers lost confidence in their ability to manage its finances.

Governors were given the chance to show why they should keep their places, but BBC Wales’ Dragon’s Eye understands they will be dismissed on Friday.

For more on this story click here.

***UPDATE***

See BBC Website: College governors decision delay

A decision on the future of the governors of a Flintshire college has been delayed for at least two weeks.