fortuneteller
Registered: 10/10/08
Posts: 1
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| | 10/10/08 at 12:36 PM | Reply with quote | #1 |
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A House of Commons Select Committee report on the Diplomas has been published.
I thought a brief summary might be of interest to aficionados :
1. Providing more learning opportunities for young people that integrate academic and vocational study is commendable, but much remains to be done to achieve it.
2. Diplomas could further complicate an already complex system of qualifications for young people.
3. Some consortia are much more advanced than others in their preparations to offer Diplomas.
4. Work experience is an essential part of the Diplomas, but some 45% of consortia had not involved employers in deciding how to provide this.
5. Providing the teaching and facilities to support the broad curriculum is particularly difficult in rural areas with dispersed communities.
6. Diplomas have yet to be widely accepted as credible qualifications.
7. The Department does not know the full cost of implementing the 14–19 reforms.
8. The existence of two major capital funding programmes creates a risk that a mismatch in timing could result in capital projects not supporting the 14–19 reforms, or lead to unnecessary expenditure.
9. Sufficient good-quality teaching staff are needed to deliver Diplomas, but 45% of consortia had yet to carry out a skills audit.
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Archimedes
Moderator
Registered: 02/22/08
Posts: 26
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| | 10/11/08 at 12:51 AM | Reply with quote | #2 |
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Thanks Fortuneteller for your contribution.
This is a useful summary. It is probably a good thing that 'obstacles' - as you describe them - are identified early on. Select Committee reports carry a lot of weight and will have the effect of shaking up everyone involved with the diplomas to make sure these issues are addressed.
There are quite a few individual points in the summary that are worthy of a conversation by practiioners and others supporting the diploma. Some are to do with its structure, some to do with the extra costs of this qualification, another is the welcome observation that big capital programmes like BSF need to be in sync with diplomas, and then there is a concern that there is insufficient readiness or support for teaching the Diplomas.
The point about credibility wont be able to be progressed until schools doing diplomas can prove that Diplomas really are a more effective route into the specialist jobs market.
Do others reading this thread have any observatons to make about this report? Please join the forum (it takes 30 seconds to register) and add your thoughts.
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