The 157 Group has responded to the publication today (17 November) of Still In Tune?, a report from the Skills Commission on the skills system and the changing nature of work.
Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group said, "Today’s report offers an intelligent and useful analysis of the ways in which the labour market is developing and the extent to which our skills system is, or is not, keeping in touch with these developments.
“We agree that there has been a degree of fragmentation in the system in recent years, not least by the arrival of many new types of institution and ongoing reform to qualifications and curriculum. It is worrying, although not surprising, to read about the evidence from many users of the system that this fragmentation has made it hard to engage.
“We believe that colleges can play the leading role in bringing coherence to local and national skills systems, and the recommendations in our recent Future colleges report offer many solutions to the issues the Commission has highlighted. We absolutely must work to deliver a clear and understandable education system – starting in school – from which learners and employers can benefit and which enables the development of the higher-level skills we need. Colleges, at the heart of their economies and communities, should be trusted to deliver this.
“The Commission is right to point out that disjointedness in government policymaking has not helped in recent years, and we call upon all government departments with a stake in skills and education to heed the warnings in today’s report and respond with stable, durable and coherent approaches over the coming years.”