Chapter 12:

An Education and Training Action Group for Wales

 
1  This White Paper has set out what will be done to improve attainment in schools in Wales. This is necessarily only part of what has to be done to create the culture of lifelong learning that is fundamental to Wales' future prosperity. This final chapter describes how the Government intends to take forward the work now required to meet this wider challenge.

2  General levels of education and training in Wales are rising, but too slowly, given the international standards that must be matched. Despite the good work being done in many areas, there is a wide perception that the education and training system in Wales could work much better. The Welsh Office shares this view. The current system:

• lacks coherence;

• depends more upon competition, and less upon collaboration, than is right to get the most from resources of all kinds; and

• does not respond well enough to the needs of a rapidly changing labour market.

3  In the light of this, the key priorities for improvement are to:

• build on the approach in this White Paper, and to secure improvements in school performance which ensure that all young people reach satisfactory standards by the end of compulsory education;

• focus education and training more effectively on delivering the skills needed by the Welsh economy;

• increase the number and range of vocational qualifications taken, and improve their delivery, with clear agreement on the roles that schools, colleges and work-based training will play;

• strengthen careers education and careers information and guidance so that young people and adults are able to take informed decisions about careers, courses and qualifications;

• promote collaboration between schools, further and higher education, and training providers to meet the needs of individuals and employers more effectively and coherently;

• tackle social exclusion, by helping

  demotivated young people, unemployed people, and those trapped in low-skill, low-wage jobs, to improve their prospects through education and training;

• help develop Wales' indigenous small and medium sized enterprises to train more effectively and develop better links with further and higher education;

• realise the potential for new information and communications technology to expand access to education and training, notably through the National Grid for Learning;

• ensure that Wales reaps the maximum benefit from the University for Industry.

4  These challenges will only be met if all involved in education and training share a common vision and work towards it systematically. This is not a vision that the Government can impose on its partners in the education service. The Welsh Office is therefore setting up an Education and Training Action Group for Wales, bringing together the key organisations and interests, and chaired at Ministerial level, to set, and gain support for, the necessary strategic direction. This Action Group will prepare the way for the Welsh Assembly's own work on education and training. The Action Group will publish a Wales Education and Training Action Plan, setting out:

• the agreed measures that will be taken to address the priorities defined above, specifying what steps key organisations will take;

• the goals and targets to upgrade the skills and attainments of children, young people and adults in Wales;

• the steps needed to put Wales on course to secure an international reputation for excellence in education and training;

• arrangements for reviewing progress and keeping the action plan up to date.

5  This will also take account of the Government's decisions following the publication of Sir Ron Dearing's report on the future of higher education, and a White Paper on lifelong learning to be published later this year.

6  The Action Group will be led by Mr Peter Hain MP, the Minister with responsibility for education and training in Wales. Its approach will be open and inclusive. It will be constituted so as to use a range of methods to stimulate new thinking, for new purpose. Its work will be shaped by informal reference and expert groups; by at least one major conference organised on focus-group lines, as well as by submissions from individuals. These arrangements will be used to consult and engage all those with interests in education and training in Wales, including: employers; governors; teachers; parents; local authorities; schools; FE and HE institutions; private training providers; together with pupils and students of whatever age in the education and training systems.

7  The Action Group itself will consist of about 12 members. Its primary responsibility will be to ensure that effective methods of consultation and joint working are put in place, and that the results are used effectively to achieve the Ministerially approved objectives for this initiative. The Action Group will be composed of people from all-Wales bodies that have a pre-eminent role in securing practical and thorough-going improvement in education and training. In addition there will be members nominated by representational bodies in Wales - such as the Wales Local Government Association (WLGA), and bodies covering the interests of employers and business people having a direct stake in the effectiveness of education and training in Wales overall. Their work will be informed by the perspectives of those organisations, but will not be constrained by them. Members will bring their own broad understanding of what needs to be done, and of how best to achieve good results in the public interest.
 
 
Conclusion

8  If you have any suggestions to make on the issues that the Action Group will be dealing with, please send them to the Welsh Office by the same time as comments are invited on the rest of this White Paper. The address for correspondence is given at the end of Chapter 1.

9  Above all we invite you to contribute to Building Excellent Schools Together in Wales, and to what will be the associated implementation plan - the BEST Programme itself.