Skills providers have to adapt ‘very fundamentally’ to changing needs

CHOICE and flexibility, two of the key drivers of millennials culture in the workplace, are also changing skills development.
Two of the panellists at TheBusinessDesk.com’s Millennials event – Birmingham Metropolitan College’s chief executive Andrew Cleaves and Birmingham City University’s deputy vice-chancellor Julian Beer – were clear about the scale of change which is taking place.
One consequence of this is the increased take-up of apprenticeships, at all levels, which provide greater flexibility for learners and tap into the experience-led lifestyle choices of the younger generation.
“The shift in the world of education is a shift away from purely academic outcomes,” said Mr Cleaves.
“The academic versus technical training – with academic training being A-levels and university, and technical being maybe a BTec or an apprenticeship – represents the shift we have been talking about.
“Academic is ‘you know the rules, you do your A-levels, you have to do what you have to do’. Technical training is actually having an outcome – wanting to get the skills for a particular job and learning the skills along the way, and I determine how I do it, partly by learning and partly by working.
“The education system is catching up with what has been happening with the millennial generation. It will mean a whole range of choices that will include the ability to define your own route through your education.”

Prof Beer believes higher-level apprenticeships are a response to the changing demands of school-leavers and the changing requirements of employers.
He said: “There is a crying need – I’ve said this to ministers in Whitehall – for institutions like universities and further education to change. They are going to have to adapt very fundamentally to the shifts of the needs of the workplace and the individual.

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