Open learning credits for unemployed people : a consultative document

8 Pages·1992·0.37 MB·English

by  Great Britain. Department of Employment

Forewordbythe TheWhitePaper“PeopleJobsandOpportunity”
ParliamentaryUnderSecretaryofState announcedplanstoinviteTECsandlees,topilot
hrEmployment schemestomakecreditsavailabletounemployed
peopleforthepurchaseofopenlearningmaterialsand
support.
Thisdocumentinvitesviewsonhowthe initiative
shouldoperate.
Individualsseekingworkneednotonlysupport
butalso avarietyofopportunitiesfromwhichto
choosethemostsuitablewaybacktowork.Wherethe
chosenoptionistraining,theWhitePaperemphasised
theimportanceofensuringthatthisisflexibleand
responsivetotheneedsofeachindividual.Foran
increasingnumberofpeople,openlearningistheir
preferredmethodoflearning,enablingthemtostudy
atatime,placeandpacewhichsuitsthem.Moreover,
asopenlearningdoesnotinvolveregularclassroom
attendanceorfixedcoursetimes,unemployedpeople
areabletocontinuetheirsearchforworkanddonot
havetostopstudyingwhentheyfindajob.
Thepilotswilltestouthowopenlearningcreditsor
vouchersmightbeusedasameansofwideningthe
rangeofoptionsavailabletounemployedpeople.
Fundamentallythepilotsareaboutchoiceand
responsibility-offeringunemployedpeopleagreater
choiceofcourseandlearningoptions,and
encouragingthemtotakeresponsibilityfortheirown
learninganddevelopment.
Ihopeallwhohaveideasabouthowthepilots
shouldoperatewillcontributetothe consultative
process.
mmmr*nii«y?
fia§^ «mtutm PatrickMcLaughlinMP
msm f®*MW*® j ParliamentaryUnderSecretaryofState
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CONTENTS Introduction 3
Background 4
Timetable 5
Outlineframework 5
ProgrammeAim
Howmightitwork?
Issues 6
Annex 1 8
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Open Learning Credits for
U.nemployed People
CONSULTAl VEDOCUMENT
INTRODUCTION 1 OpenLearningoffersa readilyaccessiblewayforpeopleto
learnandtrainatatime, paceandplacetosuitthemselves,
2.
Theflexibilityofopenlearningcanenable unemployed people
tocombine learningwithactivejobsearchandtocontinuethat
learningonceworkhas beenfound.
AsannouncedintheWhitePaper, “PeopleJobsand
Opportunity”theGovernmentplanstoexplorewideningthe
portfolioofopportunitiesavailabletounemployedpeopleby
invitingTrainingandEnterpriseCouncilsand, inScotland,local
3. enterprisecompaniestopilotschemestomakecredits
availabletounemployedpeopleforthepurchaseofopen
learningmaterialsandsupport.Thepilotswillexplorethe
potentialofopenlearningcredits(orvouchers)toprovide
additionalscopeforTECsandleestobroaden therangeof
supporttheycanoffertounemployedpeopletohelp
themselvesbyimprovingtheirskillsandknowledge. Credits
cangiveindividualsrealchoiceand increased ownershipof
theirowntraining.
Thisdocumentprovidesthebasisforconsultationonthepilots,
Itdescribesanoutlineframeworkforthe pilotsandalso
identifiessomekeyissues.Viewsare invitedonthese. Separate
arrangementsarebeingmadeinScotland.
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BACKGROUND 4. Theneedtoupgradeandcontinuetodeveloptheskillsofthe
workforceisnowwidelyacceptedintheUnitedKingdom.
Advancingtechnologyandincreasinginternationalcompetition
meanthattoremaincompetitive,thenation’sworkforcemust
beprepared,andable,toundertakecontinuoustrainingand
development.Thisappliesasmuchtothosewhoareseeking
workastothoseinemployment.
5. TheWhitePaperdescribednewtraininginitiativeswhichaim
tosupporttheindividualinmakingdecisionsaboutfuture
trainingandeducationopportunities,andenablehimorherto
gainaccesstothoseopportunities.Thesubsequentconsultation
document“AssessmentandGuidanceCreditsInitiative”setout
aprogrammethroughwhichTECswillestablisheffectivelocal
information,adviceandguidanceservices,linkedtocreditsfor
individualstobuytheseservices. Improvementsinaccessare
beingaddressedthroughworktomakeopenlearningmaterials
availableinpubliclibrariesand,forunemployedpeople,the
openlearningcreditspilots, outlineproposalsforwhichareset
outinthisconsultativedocument.
6. TheWhitePaperstressestheimportanceoftailoringthehelp
offeredtopeopleseekingwork,tomeettheirvariedneeds,
capabilitiesandaspirations.Thismeansthatthetraining
availablemustbereadilyaccessible,andtheserviceprovided
flexibleandresponsivetotheclient’sneeds.Thepilotswill
addresstheseissuesofaccess,flexibility,andresponsiveness
bytestingouthowopenlearningcreditsmighthelptoremove
barriersofplaceandtime,andmakepossiblepersonalaction
planswhichmorecloselymeetclient’sneeds.
7- In“AStrategyforSkills”,theGovernment’sguidancetoTECs
andlees,theGovernmentarticulateditssixprioritiesforaction
(seeAnnex1). (TheSecretaryofStateforWalesissueda
complementarydocumententitled, “SkillsandEnterprise:an
agendaforWales”).Thepilotingofopenlearningcreditsfor
unemployedpeopleaddressesalltheseprioritiestoanextent
andinparticularthosewhichcallfor :
• actiontopersuadeindividualsthattrainingpays;
• helpforpeoplewhoareunemployedtodeveloptheir
abilitiestothefull;
• providerstoofferhighqualityandflexibleprovision.
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8. Itisplannedtorunupto 13pilotswithTECsandleesduring
the 1993/94financialyear.Fundingavailabletoeachpilotwill
beintheregionof£200,000tocovermanagementcostsaswell
asthecostofprovidingthecredits(includingsupportand
materialspurchase).
TIMETABLE 9- Thetimetablefortheprogrammeisasfollows:
ConsultativeProcessuptotheendofSeptember 1992
TECs/lecsselectedbytheendofSeptember 1992
Developspecificationsforpilots-October1992toMarch1993
FirstclientsenterpilotschemesinApril 1993
PilotsoperatefromApril 1993uptoMarch1994
OUTLINEFRAMEWORK 10.Theaimofthepilotswillbetotestoutopenlearningcredits
ProgrammeAim (orvouchers)asameansofprovidingadditionalscopefor
TECstowidentherangeofsupporttheycanofferto
unemployedpeopletohelpthemselvesbyimprovingtheir
vocationalskillsandknowledge.Theintentionis,therefore,to
trialanumberofdifferentapproachesinordertoidentifythe
issuesinvolvedinestablishingopenlearningcreditssystems
andtodeterminewhichapproachesarethemostcosteffective.
Howmightitwork? 11.TECsinvolvedwillbeaskedtomanageapilotprogramme
frompointofentrytocompletion. Thepaththrougha
programmeinbroadtermsmightbe :
Entry
Counselling/Assessment(includingwhereappropriate
APL)
AgreementofPersonalActionPlan
Agreementof“LearningContract”withTrainingProvider
IndividualStudy/Training -(withTutorSupport)
Assessment
Qualification(whereVQavailable)
RevisionofCurriculumVitae
EnhancedJobsearch
Employment
Completionoftrainingpackage
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12.Theintentionistobuilduponexistingarrangementsforentry
toprogrammes.Wheretheopenlearningcreditpilotsareset
up inareaswhereworkisinhandontheassessmentand
guidanceinitiativesdescribedintheWhitePaper, itwillbe
importanttoexplorewhatlinkageswillbeappropriate.Itwill
bevitalthatindividualsareofferedgoodqualityguidanceon
howtousetheircreditstoachievetheirchosenvocational
trainingobjectives.
issues
TheValueoftheCredits Insomecasesthecreditscouldcoverthecostsofassessment
andguidance;inothers,separatearrangementsmightbemade.
Inallcasesthecostsoftutorsupportwouldbecovered.
Howshouldthevalueofthecreditbedeterminedforeach
individualclient?
Infrastructure Whatimplicationsarethereforthelocaltraininginfrastructure?
Howcanthecreditsbebestintegrated?
OpenLearningProviders Whatsortofarrangementsmightbemadewithprovidersfor
theprovisionofopenlearningmaterialsandsupport?
TargetPopulations Whatsoilofclientgroupingsandtargetareasshouldbe
includedinthepilots?
VocationalQualifications HowmightlinkswithNVQsbestbeestablished?
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Quality Whatarrangementsareneededtoensurethatclientsreceivea
highqualityservice?Arethereminimumqualitystandards
whichcanbe applied?
Individuals Howmightapproachesbebuiltintothepilotswhichencourage
thedevelopmentofselfmotivationwithinlearners,towards
continuingpersonaldevelopment?
CONSULTATION TheEmploymentDepartmentwouldwelcomewrittenviews
andcommentsonthisdocumentby30September1992.
Commentsshouldbesentto:
KevinGraham
EmploymentDepartment
LearningMethodsBranch
E510,Moorfoot
Sheffield
S'l4PQ
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ANNEX
I Ftom AStrategyforSkills: GuidancefromtheSecretaryof
StrategicPrioritiesforAction StateforEmployment, onTraining, Vocational,Education
andEnterprise”November1991
.
Employersmustinvestmoreeffectivelyintheskills
theirbusinessesneed.
® Youngpeoplemusthavethemotivationtoachieve
theirfullpotentialandtodeveloptheskillsthe
economyneeds.
Individualsmustbepersuadedthattrainingpaysand
thattheyshouldtakemoreresponsibilityfortheirown
development,
Peoplewhoareunemployedandthoseata
disadvantageinthejobsmarketmustbehelpedtoget
backtoworkandtodeveloptheirabilitiestothefull.
H Theprovidersofeducationandtrainingmustofferhigh
qualityandflexibleprovisionwhichmeetstheneedsof
individualsandemployers.
Enterprisemustbeencouragedthroughoutthe
economy,particularlythroughthecontinuedgrowthof
smallbusinessandself-employment.
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