John Hillier, chairman of EAL (pictured), will tell MPs today (Monday 6 Feb) that vocational industry-backed and developed qualifications are essential to prove competence, transferability and give confidence to employers and customers. The government has decided not to include formal qualifications in new apprenticeship standards, despite industry groups requesting that they are retained.
Hillier will make his comments at a special parliamentary reception to celebrate EAL’s 25th anniversary. The company has issued over two million certificates to apprentices in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sectors.
“Time after time, employers have requested the inclusion of qualifications,” said Hillier. “They’ve always used them, they trust them and they like them – so why wouldn’t they keep using them? The new system of assessment of apprentices being imposed by government is experimental at this stage – no other European country uses it as the sole method of assessment.”
Hillier will also warn MPs of the risks posed to skills by the imminent Fourth Industrial Revolution, which he says will jeopardise the job security of many in the industry.
“Radical change is about to sweep through our economy in the form of a Fourth Industrial Revolution. Millions of jobs will be lost and millions created as technology revolutionises the world of work. Without qualifications how are apprentices supposed to show that they can do the jobs of the future – not just those of the present?”
