NEU comments on EPI report on Technical Education

Commenting on the Education Policy Institute report An international comparison of technical education funding systems, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: 

“For all the talk from Gavin Williamson and the Conservative Government about the importance of technical and vocational education, it is clear that much more must be done. Commitments to T-levels, specialist maths colleges and ‘Institutes of Technology’ are not enough to reverse the historic underfunding of FE colleges. Nor will their post-16 reforms succeed while the nation’s schools are increasingly tasked with a relentless focus on drilling pupils with academic subjects until they turn 16. 

“If Government is serious about the importance of technical education then it must learn from this challenging report. Our 16-19-year-old students need sustainable funding, not piecemeal initiatives; they need real support for their living, learning and travelling costs; and they need a curriculum that is broad, relevant and challenging.”