The City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development, officially launched last month, is aiming to improve the policy and practice of work related education and training on an international level, focusing first on the UK and India.
Keith Brooker, director of the centre said: "It is a new direction for City & Guilds, an exciting challenge for the CSD, and a real opportunity to shape the future of vocational education and training internationally".
The centre will undertake and commission research in areas where there are identified needs, with five principal aims (see below). It will also work on development projects that create and promote examples of good practice in vocational education and training.
Before its official launch, the centre undertook an international research project to build an understanding of current issues faced by those with a stake in skills training around the world – employers, learners, practitioners, researchers and policy makers.
In all, 2000 people were interviewed across nine different countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, India, Malaysia, South Africa and the UK. The majority believed there was an impending skills crisis.
Despite the diversity of the countries surveyed, there were for themes common to all:
* Quality of provision: are people being given the best possible preparation for work?
* Supply and demand: how can we forecast and balance supply and demand in skills?
* Employer engagement: are employers sufficiently engaged in vocational education and training?
* Esteem: how can we improve the perception of vocational education and training?
To see the full results of the survey click here.
The CSD is also an advisory and consultancy facility offering a range of services including research, project and programme management, impact assessment to agencies with a stake in skills. All income generated via consultancy work is used to fund interventions work and its core activity.
The aims of the Centre for Skills Development:
* Advancing knowledge through research and development in areas such as policy, framework and content design, pedagogy, project delivery and labour market intelligence.
* Building networks of expertise through partnerships in order to create effective global communities.
* Improving practice through the design and evaluation of high quality vocational education and training through delivery of related programmes and projects
* Encouraging participation by fostering motivation and increasing the recognition of skills.
* Promoting skills and encouraging the active engagement of industry and commerce in shaping the use of skills and learning within and beyond the workplace.
