The United Kingdom should stop treating university technical colleges (UTCs) as "dumping grounds" and focus more on high-quality technical and vocational education amid the existing skills shortage that its projected increase in the post-Brexit period, according to a Centre for Policy Studies report issued on Wednesday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2018) The United Kingdom should stop treating university technical colleges (UTCs) as "dumping grounds" and focus more on high-quality technical and vocational education amid the existing skills shortage that its projected increase in the post-Brexit period, according to a Centre for Policy Studies report issued on Wednesday.
The report, titled "Technically Gifted," comes two days after the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warned in its Labour Market Outlook that UK businesses face growing recruitment problems amid the fall in net EU migration in the light of looming Brexit.
"Given the current skills shortage, and the likelihood that it will become more acute after we leave the European Union, there is an urgent need for high-quality technical/vocational education for 14- to 19-year-olds Yet the existing technical and vocational schools are close to collapse. The University Technical Colleges (UTCs) and studio schools that are meant to provide this type education for 14-19 year-olds have become dumping grounds for children struggling in mainstream schools. As a result, they are languishing at the bottom of the league tables and struggling to fill their places. Nearly a third of those opened since 2011 have already closed," the report said.
To tackle the situation, the report suggested that UTCs should be allowed to select students by aptitude.
According to the report, it will help to reverse the perception of these educational institutions as "second best for children of below average ability" and turn them into "schools of opportunity for children of all abilities who have a particular flair for this type of education."
The UTCs are secondary schools in the United Kingdom, which are led by a sponsor university. Since 2010, 118 such schools have been set up, aimed at 14- to 19-year-old students with a particular aptitude for a range of skilled occupations.
