McQualifications - The new A Levels?
February 6, 2008
McDonald’s, Flybe and Network Rail have been approved to offer courses that can be accredited up to the level of A Levels or advanced diploma; their in house training schemes have been accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). This is designed to equip young people with work related skills that are not currently provided within the formal education system. The qualifications would give the learners credits which could be used in applications to universities in the same way as A Levels and other national qualifications.
This is a really interesting development and something that will probably be a regular news item going forward. Becoming an accredited centre is a very proactive way of meeting the needs of your business in a tight labour market where there is often a limited level of core skills. The opportunity to gain a qualification which can be used elsewhere is also an attractive draw for a potential applicant. On the other hand, becoming accredited means you are opening yourself up to close scrutiny and regular assessment: a negative review could have damaging PR effects in the same way a terrible Ofsted report affects a school. If this initiative doesn’t work then it could have devastating affects for these companies, which they don’t need when they already have to contend with business-damaging issues such as obesity and climate change.
Another problem is the question of legitimacy. Critics of the schemes have already said that the qualifications are not “academically rigorous” enough; and many Universities have said that they will not accept students on the new qualifications. I can imagine some employers viewing these qualifications with the same snobbery in future – would they rather have an employee who has been through school to get their qualifications or someone who has a “Basic Shift Manager” diploma from McDonalds? On the other hand, I’m sure there will also be many employers who can see the merit of a “McQualification” and realise the potential transferrable skills, which may be more useful in a work situation than A Level Geography.
One other potential issue of these qualifications is that it could possibly place a higher importance on formal training than on other types of workplace learning. Informal learning methods may not be recognised in a formal way but they are nevertheless a critical need in a business and in a career. Many companies focus all their learning on informal internal methods, and this doesn’t mean that their employees are going to develop any less. I’m slightly concerned that the positive promotion for the likes of McDonalds from this new initiative could impact negatively on other organisations that decide not to follow suit, due to raised expectations and the focus on formal qualifications as the most important organisational development option.
I look forward to future developments in this area.
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