Developing Professional Skills in the Economic Development of the UK - Research Paper Example

 Introduction In any country, training and acquired skills are quite vital for establishing sustainable growth and robust societies. A skilled workforce is required to encourage the progress of economy. It can bring ample employment opportunities for the individuals belonging to any particular nation. Strong education and training system has been viewed to be fundamental to social mobility. Education and training help people to become confident, especially in tough economic times, and mitigate any unfavourable situation. This paper intends to critically analyse the strategies of the UK government towards work training as well as skills in the light of the current financial downturn. UK Government’s Strategy towards Work Training and Skills In The Light Of the Current Economic Downturn The current economic condition is quite different in comparison to previous deep financial crisis of 1930. The current financial downturn leads towards the completion of an age of credit extension. This financial downturn is duly considered as a portion of large economic boom and regarded as financial burst process. During the year 2009, the unemployment rate in the UK has increased to 6.5% (Bewick, 2009). In reaction to this situation, several organisations in the UK had reduced the budget allocated for training. According to the research of UK Chartered Institute for Personnel Development made in the year 2009, it has been viewed that many organisations in the UK have reduced the level of funding particularly on training and development purposes. However, few organisations in the UK still considered training and skill development as vital part of enhancement of their businesses. In light of the economic downturn, several public authorities and organisations intended to enhance the training and skill development for the employees of the UK (Eurofound, 2011). The current economic downturn has noticeably encouraged a significant reconsideration of training and skills policy of the UK government. The situation stimulated the government to adopt a strategic interventionist approach in order to enhance skills and to support the employees who are affected by economic downturn. Supporting the training and skill policy with industrial policy by commencing new flexible funding provisions can help towards supporting people for accomplishing right skills (Trades Union Congress, 2009). UK Policies and Practices Toward Training and Skill It has been the determination of policy developers to better associate the efforts of UK’s employment system and wellbeing with progressively developed skill system. Different educational and training methods are used in various nations of the UK like Scotland, England and Wales among others. In the year 2006, UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) has recognised major drivers for integrating employment and skill to fulfil the requirements of economy, organisations and individuals. In this similar context, it was in the year 2009 that the government of the UK had announced series of measures for enhancing the competence level of employees. These measures comprise £500 million package to deal with joblessness, providing bonus for organisations in for appointing idle employees and £140 million additional expenses for apprenticeship training (Bewick, 2009). National Approach of UK towards Skill and Development UK follows mixed model towards skill and development of its workforces. The approach of UK is intended to fulfil the present and future skill necessities of employees. The basic educational and training approach of UK differs across different nations throughout the globe. Among various nations in the UK, Scotland has been noted to be most autonomous with respect to skill and training. Furthermore, education system in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales has been viewed to be quite comprehensive in nature and quite similar to the Vocational Education and Training (VET) approach of Australia. VET in the UK has been basically dependent upon the basis of voluntary model. However, by late 1980s, this voluntary model has been wiped out and a market based system of organisation based regional Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) was established. This approach is intended to balance the supply and demand of skills (Keating, 2007). Following are the policies and approaches that are used in two most significant nations in the UK relating to skill and development. Policies of Scotland towards Work Training and Skills While improvement of skills of employees continued to be a difficult task during the light of economic downturn, Scotland’s investment in this aspect was higher in the entire UK. In the year 2007, the government of Scotland had implemented ‘Lifelong Skill Strategy’ for better application of skills across three areas that include better concentration on individual improvement, reaction to the requirements of economy as well as organisations and establishment of unified structures. The strategy of Scottish government is intended to provide better employment opportunities, to accelerate economic recovery and most significantly to sustain economic growth. This reinvigorated strategy signifies how policies on skills and training can be established in the challenging economic environment during financial downturn. The strategy of Scottish government continues to concentrate upon numerous corresponding set of skills viz. personal and learning skills that allow people to become efficient lifelong learners and other vital skills such as communication skills, problem solving skills, technical skills and other skills to perform with others. Apart from these skills, the strategy also aims to enhance the professional and the career development skills that eventually support people for gaining employment (Crown, 2010). According to UK Leitch Review of Skills, Scotland was the only nation in the UK where proportion of individuals with high education qualification surpassed the proportion of people possessing basic qualification. Due to the strategies implemented by government of Scotland, the situation of employees with respect to skill attainment has strengthened significantly. Besides, the proportion of population with no qualification has also reduced. The aforementioned policies that adopted as well as implemented by Scottish government has helped the employed population with improved skill level and advanced level of qualification attainment (Crown, 2010). The following table will show the highest qualification of Scotland’s population in the years 2008 and 2009: Year % with degree or above % with no qualification 2008 20.30% 12.50% 2009 21.00% 12.30% Source: (Crown, 2010) The training and skills improvement strategy of Scottish government needs to be more flexible in order to recognise differences in commercial prospects and employment market situations across the nation (Crown, 2010). Since the year 2007, there have been significant investments made especially in education segment in order to develop high level skills. The institutions of Scotland have reacted rapidly with the challenges of economic downturn that has contributed effectively to deal with the tough financial situation. In order to deal with the economic downturn, funding in education has been raised considerably. In the year 2010, the total expenditure of Scotland on education was almost £7 billion. Making additional funding was also targeted by Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in order to deal with the problem of unemployment during economic downturn. The Scottish government had introduced Curriculum for Excellence in order to demonstrate and identify the skills of the individuals. The skills for work prerequisite have also been increased in order to provide concrete learning prospects in varieties of areas (Crown, 2010). Policies of Northern Ireland toward Work Training and Skills The economic affluence of Northern Ireland is subjected to skill of employees and their capability to fulfil the requirements of economy and to protect the wealth creation prospects for future. In the year 2004, the government of Northern Ireland had implemented a training and skill development strategy in order to enhance the level of efficiency and social presence. In line with the original strategy, the major focus of Northern Ireland government is to recognise the hindrances that prevent people for entering in any sort of occupation (Department for Employment & Learning, 2010). The Department of Employment and Learning performs in accordance with the government of Northern Ireland to determine priority qualification fields and hence develop policies for imparting additional education to people. In this context, it can be stated that the government of Northern Ireland provides consideration to higher education strategy. The higher education segment of Northern Ireland has vital contribution to the social and economic prosperity particularly to the attainment and retention of vital skills. The government has embarked on the improvement of higher education strategy. In collaboration with the Department of Enterprise, government of Northern Ireland also attempted to develop cohesive structure for education and leadership in order to encourage more organisations toward adopting as well as implementing effectual training and development programs (Department for Employment & Learning, 2010). The government of Northern Ireland also implemented extensive Vocational Qualification Reform Program to support organisations in providing quality education. The strategy also facilitates the organisations to recognise if existing qualifications would satisfy the training requirements during economic downturn. In order to deal with the skill barriers and enable people to stay in work and develop themselves, ranges of provisions have been applied by the government of Northern Ireland. Moreover, the government has introduced a dynamic career strategy in order to make sure that proper curriculum offering is available to the age group of 14 to 19 years in the nation. It can be affirmed that this strategy is linked with developing skills through introducing attractive education and tailored programs of learning that can enable people to fulfil their career aspiration in most efficient manner (Department for Employment & Learning, 2010). The strategies of Northern Ireland eventually supported in enhancing the skills of the employees belonging to that particular region. It has been apparently observed in this circumstance that almost 75% of labour force in Northern Ireland had finished their compulsory school education. Through the strategies that imposed by the government, organisations can ensure that the training is based on national industrial standard that have been developed for corresponding industrial segment (Department for Employment & Learning, 2010). Comparison of UK Government’s Training and Skill Strategy Comparison within the UK The skill development remains a challenge for UK in the light of current economic downturn. Several surveys depicted that the skill level of Scotland is higher than other nations in the UK. In the year 2010, the proportion of people in availing level 4 education in Scotland was 36.7% and it is expected that the percentage will increase to 45.7% by the year 2020. The following figure will reveal the comparison of education level of four nations in the UK with respect to level 4 education: England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Year 2010 2020 2010 2020 2010 2020 2010 2020 Level 4 33.4 44.2 36.7 45.7 31.1 40.7 30.4 40.3 Source: (Bosworth, 2012) Although the skill base of the UK has significantly suffered from economic downturn, it enhanced significantly in recent days as several restructurings have started to prosper. In the UK, the percentage of people with level 4 and higher education has increased from 21% in the year 1994 to 29% in the year 2005. The percentage of people with no qualification has reduced from 22% in the year 1994 to 13% in the year 2005. Comparison of UK’s Strategy toward Training and Skill with Other Countries In comparison with the UK, other countries have also enhanced the skills of workforces at large. Thus, compared to other nations, UK’s skill base rests moderate on the basis of global standards. In comparison with various Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations, UK ranks 17th position with respect to low skill and 11th position with respect to high skill. In the year 2005, about 7 million people in the UK needed practical proficiency and about 5 million people required practical skills. The percentage of people with low or no qualification was more than double in the UK in comparison with other countries like Sweden, Japan and Canada. In the year 2005, it has been viewed that the investment of UK on higher education was about 1.1% of GDP in comparison to 2.9% in the US and 2.6% in South Korea (Crown, 2006). During last decade, the responsibilities of government, organisations and individuals in the UK have changed expressively. Recent innovation was the introduction of ‘Train to Gain’ program that provides by the organisations to fulfil the skill requirements of the employees. Presently, organisations collectively articulate the skill requirements through the approach of Sector Skill Council (SSC). Their major responsibility is to increase the skills of employees in accordance with organisations’ requirements (Crown, 2006). Several researches have focussed the weaknesses of UK’s skill strategy as compared to other nations. For instance, with respect to Australia, the level 2 and level 3 qualifications in the UK is at intermediate level. Furthermore, the examination and qualification system in the UK is much simpler than Australia. Australian vocational qualification system depends on autonomy of series of large Technical and Further Education (TAFE) providers. These along with other educational providers are permitted at the state level in order to deliver educational program leading towards introducing various institutionally qualified courses. On the other hand, the procedure of vocational qualification is quite complex in the UK. It restricts the capability of the organisations to effectively encourage the educational procedure. This complexity along with ineffective organisational encouragement resulted in several skills that are not valued in the employment market (Crown, 2006). Possible Solutions to Problems Identified in the UK One significant problem that has been identified in the training and skill strategy of the UK is that the education qualification level of UK is still at the intermediate level that can in turn minimise the effectiveness of its people during economic downturn. Thus, irrespective of improvement in the educational system, the UK government needs to further implement certain effective strategies ensuring that all the students departing from schools have acquired proper skills that they require to perform effectively in the contemporary employment market. As the economic situation is changing, people need to upgrade their skills to cope up with the shifting requirements of workplace. The other problem that has identified in the UK government’s strategy of training and skill is ineffective organisational arrangement that lead towards numerous unworthy skills which are not valued in the business market. Hence, the government of UK must understand the major international trends and provide greater liberty in education beyond national boundaries. Judgments of UK’s Training and Skills Strategy from Theoretical Viewpoint From the theoretical perspective, the education and skill strategy of the UK follows functionalist approach. UK education comprises two types of functions that embrace primary and secondary functions. There are numerous primary tasks that are related with education such as socialisation and cultural norms among others. The education system in the UK transmits the core worth of the nation by performing certain visible functions such as social control. One of the responsibilities of education system of the UK is teaching people conformity towards the regulation and admiration for authority. Apart from this, the education system also teaches performing certain latent roles such as handling several organisational as well as social issues and performing in team environment among others (OpenStax College, 2012). Traditionally, skill policies of the UK concentrated on formal teaching as a way to enhance economic affluence. However, in present days, UK is adopting new type of policy testing. It is focusing on experiential learning model rather than transmission learning model. This type of learning will help to enhance knowledge through concrete experience and intellectual conceptualisation. However, such approach of skill development is limited in few nations (Jarvis, 1995; London Deanery, 2012). Judgments of UK’s Training and Skills Strategy from Stakeholder View From the perspective of employees and organisations, the quality of skill and training in the UK has improved radically in recent years. The success rate of education has increased from 53% in the year 1998 to 81% in the year 2008. The accomplishment rate of internship framework has also been increased from 37% in the year 2005 to 64% in the year 2008. The organisational satisfaction rate in the UK was also remarkable (Crown, 2009). It has been viewed that there has been increasing realisation that the global economies is shifting toward high skilled employees. Therefore, in order to sustain the competitive landscape, the government of the UK needs to make substantial investments particularly in the segment of education and skill development. In the race of international skill, UK has unlocked few of the potentialities. However, in today’s economic downturn, it is the challenge of UK to unlock the potentiality of entire population (Brown & et. al., 2010). Conclusion Developing professional skills is fundamental within the context of economic development of the UK. Skilled workforce helps to establish a sustainable growth and develop a strong society. Through improved skill strategy, the government of UK can effectively encourage public segment growth, establish new employment opportunities, generate greater affluence and thus can develop its economy. From the analysis of UK’s education system, it can be observed that the strategies and approaches of skill development are viewed to be diverse in the UK. In today’s economic downturn situation, it is essential for the UK to meet the skill requirements of the organisations and enhance the capabilities of people in such a way so that they can sustain in this competitive business market environment. References Bewick, T., 2009. UK Employment and Skills in a Global Recession. What Can We Do Now? Learning and Skills Network. [Online] Available at: http://aces.shu.ac.uk/employability/resources/UKEmploymentSkillsIn%20GlobalRecession.pdf [Accessed March 14, 2013]. Bosworth, D. L., 2012. 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