Lord Baker: Looking forward to WorldSkills London 2011

This week over 80 of the UK’s most talented young apprentices, learners and employers will be taking part in the selection competitions with the hope of securing a place in Team UK for WorldSkills London 2011.

As premier supporters of Squad and Team UK, Edge is proud to support these talented young people as they showcase the benefits high quality practical and technical learning can deliver to an individual and their employers.

Edge is dedicated to raising the status of practical, technical and vocational learning. We believe all learning routes deserve equal recognition. We get involved in projects which will help achieve our aims, stimulate change and bring about new opportunities in the education system. The 35 or so young people who will make up Team UK will showcase world class skills in front of an expected audience of 150,000 people. The impact will be enthralling as school pupils, parents and the general public discover first-hand what the application of practical learning looks like at the highest level.

Exploring potential

WorldSkills is critically important to Edge because it embodies the ideas of high aspiration, determination and relentless application to achieve excellence. These are central to our mission to elevate perceptions of practical learning.

I am proud that Edge has been a long term supporter of Squad and Team UK. Through our substantial financial investment in the training of Squad and Team UK, a training programme has been created which is allowing research to be undertaken on the best way to teach vocational skills in this country. Squad UK’s experience has been expanded to combine technical training at the highest level with broader learning, teamworking and shared experience. Taken to its full potential, practical learning has been shown to match – or even exceed – the educational benefits of traditional academic learning. We have helped to develop fully-rounded people as well as fully-rounded competitors.

Fruits of success

The improvement that we have seen in the UK’s success in the past two WorldSkills competitions is a tribute to the effectiveness of the programmes put in place – with Edge’s backing. By nurturing winning attitudes and building a framework of support, there has been no need to compromise on progress towards ambitious goals: we have focused on securing the very highest standards.

Team UK at Calgary in 2009 put in a stunning performance which lifted this country into the world’s elite group of performers. The UK is now recognised as the place to which emerging economies (like China) will turn for advice and for role models. They seek out our expertise because we have developed a winning formula – one which I am confident will produce further excellent results in October in London.

The legacy

Success in 2011 should be the launchpad from which many thousands of other vocational learners realise their potential. The spirit of WorldSkills needs to percolate through to important new initiatives like University Technical Colleges so that a whole new generation can take pride in vocational learning and discover that are many paths to success, including apprenticeships. Their lives and careers deserve to be enriched in the same way as the members of Squad UK. This will be the enduring legacy of Edge’s support for this marvellous event.

Lord Baker is chairman of Edge, the independent education foundation dedicated to raising the status of practical and vocational learning

For more information about all members of Squad UK and to arrange a free visit to the Team UK Selection Competition (14 – 17 June) go to www.worldskillsteamuk.org