CILT on the Year Ahead, Only Here at FE News!

The holly is no longer decking the halls and the decorations are back in their packaging for another year, and the Further Education sector faces the new year with both confidence and trepidation.

One digit may have changed on the cheques and the bank statements that are loved and loathed respectively, but the challenges faced for skills in Britain remain. The Leitch Review ““ to be published later this year ““ is expected to elaborate upon the road ahead for skills, with the long term view of creating a workforce with competitive skills in the global economy for 2020. All of us at FE News are delighted that the National Centre for Languages (CILT) have agreed to tell us what they see in store for 2006.

Three Wishes and Cooperation

Question: “If you had to choose three things for FE’s Santa to bring for 2006, what would they be?”

CILT: “Employers everywhere would recognise the value of languages as an employability skill and would support FE colleges to lobby their local Learning and Skills Councils (LSCs) to fund language learning as an integral element alongside all vocational subjects.

“Also, that the learning of languages would be considered as another basic skill so that everyone would be able to learn a language for free! Finally, that there would be a decision to include languages within all of the new Diploma lines, not just handful pre-selected on the basis of assumptions rather than employer need.”

Question: “What is the agency / organisation other than your own that you expect to be most heavily involved in furthering FE in 2006?”

CILT: “The Association of Colleges and the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA).”

Looking Forwards

Question: “What changes do you fear will affect FE negatively in the coming year?”

CILT: “The projected outcomes of the Foster Review. Instability in respect of the Learning and Skills Council strategy, structures and processes. The rise in fees for learning for Personal Development, the category into which language learning largely falls within FE, may have an adverse effect on the number of adults taking up languages.”

Question: “Which of next year’s conferences do you think will be the most exciting / interesting and why?”

CILT: “The Adult Education Languages Show, Friday 9 June in Loughborough! This will be the conference to attend if you are offering languages in adult or further education ““ the wide-ranging seminar programme will offer the opportunity to share practice, see what others are doing around the country, and to debate local and national topical issues. We look forward to seeing you there!”

All of us at FE News would like to thank CILT for their cooperation and thoughts, and wish them all the best for 2006.

Jethro Marsh

Read CILT’s memories of 2005 exclusively at FE News!

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