Burnham to tell schools in England to adapt teaching to local business needs- what do you think?

It is a really refreshing concept for education in England. I've long thought that success shouldn't be based totally on academic achievement and qualifications, and that our country fell way behind others on training for jobs.
It's 10/10 from me.

In theory, it sounds good.

We need to teach youngsters how to earn a living, often in practical subjects.

Sounds like technical colleges, back in the 60’s.

I don't doubt it is a huge task, complex and will need incremental implantation phases over several years.

2 years ago AB introduced his vision and plans for the Manchester Baccalaureate or MBacc. Now he wants to take the same visit nationally and give pupils the opportunity to study more vocational courses and work with other regional Mayors.

BBC News website running an interesting article- Can Burnham's vision for Manchester's schools really work for the rest of England?

A Herculean task, I hope he succeeds in this vision for our younger generations sake.

As an approach it makes sense for industrialised areas, but I wonder how it will work in rural communities, where local job opportunities are a lot more limited.

Sounds like a very good idea, providing teachers are given support/training to implement the recommendations, and potential employers are on board. . People need to recognise that there can be other choices besides university, which does not suit everyone. I look forward to seeing if Wales has a similar proposal, not that I'm going to hold my breath on that.

Casdon

As an approach it makes sense for industrialised areas, but I wonder how it will work in rural communities, where local job opportunities are a lot more limited.

Maybe agricultural schemes, or even keeping artisan crafts alive like thatching, blacksmiths (who do far more than shoe horses) etc.

Calendargirl

In theory, it sounds good.

We need to teach youngsters how to earn a living, often in practical subjects.

Sounds like technical colleges, back in the 60’s.

Indeed.
Didn't we have Apprenticeships and Technical Colleges in the old days ?
Equal respect for non-academic qualifications should always have been there.
Not everyone can be academic in their "work" sphere. The country needs plumbers, electricians, builders, gas specialists, gardeners.
More enlightened cultures not only respect both pathways but also acknowledge that your electrician may well be intellectually smart and just as interested in and appreciative of cultural matters as the more " academic" members of society.

To some extent, but there aren’t as many jobs as there are young people, and the jobs that there are, are almost all tradesmen, farming etc. The academic children do have to leave to follow a career.

Truly believe Education needs to have at least some focus on Real Life. And truly believe it would engage young people. Not suggesting we throw the baby out with the bath (thinking Shakespeare, Chaucer, Algebra here) but young people need to learn about Interest Rates, mortgages, how Scammers exploit, how to deal with GP’s, Employment Rights (& Tribunals), the impact of prison and Community sentencing.

I’m not an ex teacher, but these issues relate to real life and I’d hope young people would find them much more relatable

I think Pippa has hit it on the head. Teachers need support, training . I have already mentioned T levels which are offered by 365 schools and are proving popular with pupils. For those , who haven't heard of them they are equivalent to 3 A levels
combine practical and theoretical learning with an industry placement .
In the past there have been courses instead of GCSE. Do any of you remember City and Guilds , BTEC , NVQs, CSE ?All involving vast amounts of work by schools and upset when they were deemed to be a waste of time.

It needs to be something that will be valued by industry and commerce.
Not every student wishes to take the academic route.
Hope it works.
Yes Labradora, the courses must be such that they elicit respect.

I don't think the plan is to disrupt T levels progress to date which on the other thread you indicated around 361 schools across the country offer.

AB only introduced his vision for the Manchester Baccalaureate a couple of years ago and it has reached significant reach already- engaging 101 schools in the area and securing 1,100 T levels placement pledges from local employers helping more than 11,000 young people onto technical career pathways. Greater Manchester now has 101 schools of the 361 England schools offering T levels as I understand it. To expand this in the same way across the country would be a positive thing. I think he wants to go wider than T levels also- but waiting to see more detail.

Back in the day, and apology if I get the terms wrong, it's been a while, but Special Needs provision did use suitably trained tradespeople to teach technical subjects.