Building qualifications not working forWales
QUALIFICATIONS to train young people for thousands of jobs predicted to come to Wales in the booming construction industry, are not up to scratch and apprentices are being forced to cross the border for apprenticeships, a report today warns.
Independent qualifications regulator, Qualifications Wales, says schools aren’t doing enough to promote vocational jobs. Construction apprenticeships here are also too short – much shorter than other nations.
Welsh speakers “struggle to understand” the version of the language in construction qualifications provided in Wales, a report from the regulator adds.
The document says “correct” Welsh used is not fully understood by those speaking a “local” version of the language.
“Welsh speakers often don’t complete written tasks in Welsh, even when they are available, because the terminology is not in the “local” Welsh they speak but rather in what they describe as “correct” Welsh which they struggle to understand.”
The construction industry in Wales is predicted to create 12,000 jobs in Wales in the next few years. But there are gaps in qualifications for people training here.
The report – Building for the Future – follows what Qualifications Wales described as its 15-month “major inquiry into the range and quality of qualifications available in the construction and built environment industry.”
Other problems flagged include terminology used in some written assessments produced by awarding bodies. The report said some terminology is “difficult and quite advanced, and not the same as those used in the world of work”. Assessment can also be excessive, ineffective and inconsistent, the inquiry found.
“Not enough is being done in schools to offer advice about the wide range of jobs available in vocational trades, with the emphasis being on academic qualifications and trades seen as the poor relation; and some courses are not being taught in Wales and apprentices must go to England for their education,” the document adds.
Some skills, such as working with mineral insulated cables, has been removed from the qualifications altogether, but many miles of the cables are still installed in homes across the country and newly-trained electricians need to know how to repair them when faults occur, the regulator warns.
Qualifications Wales is making a series of recommendations including the possibility of new qualifications in the construction and built environment (CBE) sector.
“This is one of the country’s priority employment sectors,” said report author, associate director Cassy Taylor. “It is estimated that there are 13,000 CBE companies in Wales employing more than 130,000 people and contributing 6.5 per cent of the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA).
“Our team of reviewers spent 15 months interviewing employers, educators and learners in depth for their thoughts about the state of qualifications in the CBE sector before coming to a series of conclusions.
“We are now opening up our detailed report for scrutiny and inviting everyone involved in the sector, from learners to employers, to give us their views on our findings.”
The report’s proposals include commissioning new qualifications at foundation and progression level, each with trade-specific pathways for learners aged 16-19 on full time programmes in construction and building services in further education; and the need to commission a new apprenticeship qualification.