In his statement introducing the Framework, Lord Mandelson said he would be looking to business to play a bigger role in helping design the content of courses, to ensure they are more closely aligned to the skills needs of the economy. This is a sensible objective, and one which employers will endorse. Surveys by EEF have shown that manufacturers are already increasingly working closely with the higher education sector in terms of innovation and research, and it is right for that co-operation to be fully extended into teaching.
It is also very promising to see that alternative pathways into higher education are being actively promoted. Higher level apprenticeships and other forms of work-based training should be an accepted route into higher learning, but have too often been seen as being on a different planet to the world of universities.
We have a world-class Higher Education system, and we should now be looking to harness that excellence to help generate the world-class skills that we all need. There are a lot of encouraging signals in this framework, such as a greater emphasis on STEM subjects, and we will be studying the detail to see how that will translate itself into practical policy.
However, none of this debate can properly take place without considering the impact of the higher education funding review next year. That, to return to an earlier metaphor, has been the elephant in the room during discussion of this framework.
EEF's Education and Skills Adviser Nigel Fletcher Tel: 020 7654 1542
