Every education minister, it seems, loves to wax lyrical about the fashionable overseas education system of the moment.
Michael Gove, formerly of this parish, was particularly guilty of this policy-shopping, professing to base his reforms on systems from Singapore to Finland, and from Hong Kong to the US state of Massachusetts. This approach crept into FE policymaking, too, during Nick Boles’ ministerial tenure, with his admiration for technical education in Norway shaping in no small way the remit for the Sainsbury review, which, in turn, led to the creation of T levels.
Man on a ‘mission’
But it seems that our current education secretary, Damian Hinds, has turned to a more familiar system. He yesterday jetted off for a fact-finding jolly - sorry, “mission” - to Germany and the Netherlands.
Germany has long been lauded as the holy grail for FE. As Hinds writes for The Times: “Technical and vocational training in Germany is high calibre, combining classroom instruction and on-the-job training. Critically, it is not perceived as being less prestigious than university, with near half of young Germans taking this route, often through apprenticeships.”
T levels, he believes, will help the UK take on its overseas competitors. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put our technical education on par with the best in the world and it’s vital we get it right,” he continues. “That’s why I will, unashamedly, look at what other countries are doing and copy their successes.”
Double Dutch
But what of the Netherlands? Here, Hinds explains, “they link education and work at a young age, meaning 12-year-olds are considering possible career options when they choose their subjects; with vocational options proving the most popular”.
Excellent idea, minister. Because getting students to pick their options in Year 7 has proved REALLY popular over here.
So it he looking in the right place? It’s notoriously difficult to compare FE systems in different countries - not least because no-one else uses the term “further education”.
At last year’s WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi, Team UK’s one gold, three silver and three bronze medals, as well as 13 medallions of excellence, meant they came 10th in the final medal table - ahead of Germany, who came 12th. The Netherlands managed to secure one gold medal and seven medallions, placing them 22nd.
Looking in the wrong place?
But in EuroSkills Gothenburg 2016, the tables were turned, with Germany and the Netherlands coming fourth and fifth - well ahead of Team UK in ninth. Not, of course, that success in international skills competitions equates directly to the effectiveness of a country’s skill system - not every country takes it as seriously as the South Koreans and Russians, for example - but it’s aninteresting comparisonn.
Another is the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Skills Outlook 2017, which ranked the UK ninth out of 28 countries for the proportion of 25- to 64-year-olds participating in education and training - ahead of Germany in 15th.
The figures do beg the question: Germany may have the reputation, but is it really the best place for Hinds to be seeking to emulate? On that note, FErret’s off for a Bratwurst.
