Exploring UK approaches employer engagement, apprenticeships and competency standards development

Employers have an important role to play in technical vocational education and training (TVET). The development of quality TVET requires industry to be involved at each stage to ensure the future workforce are armed with the skills, knowledge and behaviours that employers need.

This fundamental principle is where we started our recent capacity-building and technical support workshops with TVET stakeholders in the Philippines.

Working on behalf of the FCDO, British Embassy Manila, the knowledge sharing sessions we delivered explored highly focused methodologies in skills development and looked at UK TVET policy and practices including competency standards development, labour market information and work-based training, as well as challenges in skills development and potential solutions.

Attended by over 40 stakeholders including TESDA, employers and educational partners, the sessions highlighted the paradigm shift required for TVET to have parity with academia in the country, with some clear recommendations.

At its core, participants agreed that industry needs to become influencers and champions for work-based learning models, and that to achieve this, they need to be placed at the very heart of the TVET system. Other recommendations identified during the discussions included:

• Work-based learning pathways and how they link and bridge into education need to be well-defined for employers. There needs to be clarity on the career opportunities once someone has completed a vocational training programme.
• Educational institutes should have strong and realistic career pathway models that show clear entry-routes and progression routes to support their students to enter and build a career in the different industries.
• There’s a strong need for employers to embrace the apprenticeship model in their business. To help achieve this we need to be clear on the definition of apprenticeships and demonstrate the cost-benefit analysis of apprentices.
• For businesses to see training as an investment we need to demonstrate that investment pays off. Hard data will help prove training ROI.
• We need to transform the perception of apprenticeships to enable individuals see them as a routeway to a rewarding career and they need to have a yearning for learning.

Following the workshops participants were left with a range of rich materials including readiness checklist toolkits, presentations and links to further resources.