All across the land dawns a brand new morn; this comes to pass when a quango is born.
On Monday, the three wise men of FE - Halfasar, Jenkinsior and Lauenar - gathered around the manger to witness the birth of the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA). Like any newborn, it’s just tiny - it doesn’t even have a fully formed CEO yet.
By all accounts, labour was painful and protracted. Adverts for the IfA’s board members were posted last June. The news on the appointments, promised in October, did not emerge until January. And we still don’t know who will replace interim boss Peter “three jobs” Lauener as its chief executive. Last week, it was confirmed that he plans to retires once a successor has been appointed to run the IfA’s slightly older cousin, the Education and Skills Funding Agency, born just a mere week earlier.
As has become the norm, the institute’s birth was heralded on social media - although its Twitter handle, @IFAteched, appears a little presumptuous given that its remit won’t be expanded to cover technical education until the Technical and Further Education Bill has made its meandering way through Parliament.
It also turned out to be a busy first week for the IfA. Its first official day coincided with the long-awaited statement outlining exactly which aspects of apprenticeships the various bodies in the sector - the IfA, DfE, Education and Skills Funding Agency, Ofsted, Ofqual, Hefce and the QAA - would be responsible for. And it emerged that the two bickering uncles, Ofsted and Hefce, had finally come to an agreement over who would be responsible for overseeing degree apprenticeships, with Hefce having won this particular squabble.
And just yesterday came the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, one of the biggest reforms to the FE sector in a generation, with all the associated IT issues to be negotiated.
So, all in all, it’s been quite a week for the new arrival. But the IfA is reportedly taking it all in its stride. Just look at its tiny hands, grabbing for the end-point assessment plans…
