Howard: Vocational education snobbery must end
Conservative leader Michael Howard has called for an end to the “snobbery” that values academic qualifications higher than vocational paths.
He said he was unsurprised that some children were dropping out of school when confronted with a school system that “does not enthuse and inspire them”.
Speaking at the Guardian Public Services Summit, Mr Howard said: “If youngsters who are not drawn to a university degree cannot learn a practical skill, should we be surprised when they get angry and frustrated with an inflexible academic curriculum which seems only to highlight their failings?
“One of the tragedies of our education system is that we have overvalued the importance of an academic qualification at the expense of a technical or practical skill.”
Mr Howard told his audience that: “It’s time to end that snobbery. Our education system must recognise that every person is different, with different aptitudes, skills and ambitions. No path is intrinsically superior to any other, or deserves to be automatically better resourced.”
He said that society as a whole needed to hold plumbers and electricians in greater esteem, and argued the best way to do this was to raise the quality and standard of vocational education.
“Then everyone knows that a young person who has chosen a vocational route, and come out of it with flying colours, is not someone who has opted for a standard class education, but someone who has first class skills.”
The Tory leader said that if elected, he would establish a network of “skills super colleges” with extra funding gained from the abolition the Learning & Skills Council.
Fourteen and 15 year-olds would also be able to start on a vocational course directly from school, with specialist courses provided by further education colleges.
The Liberal Democrats said the plans were a return to the “sheep and goats” system of 50 years ago.
Education spokesman Phil Willis, said: “These long awaited, but inadequate, proposals have more in common with Rab Butler and 1944 than the skills needs of the 21st century.
“Seeking to separate young people into ‘sheep and goats’ on the basis of academic ability is a tried and failed option and has led to today’s massive skills shortage as a nation.
“All young people need to be engaged in high quality vocational education as part of their 14-19 studies. To simply offer un-costed bribes to colleges and employers to take on disillusioned young people smacks of desperation.”
