Bac to the future - revisited
John Freeman
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
In my last blog on the curriculum – Bac to the future - again - I recalled the TVEI work I was involved with in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and which was funded to the tune of £15 billion over 10 years by the Department of Employment. The aim, of course, was to improve, as the name suggests, technical and vocational education, and to improve the readiness of young people for the ‘world of work’, with all the skills and attitudes implied. TVEI came to an end and was almost immediately eclipsed by the National Curriculum, which included design and technology and even food technology, but largely theoretically and not practically. So I was quietly amused that according to the Telegraph, the Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, has ‘attacked schools over not preparing young for work’ What goes around, comes around, and ‘Bac to the future’ seems more apposite than ever. I hope that Chris Grayling makes an effective input into the Wolf Review. Perhaps he will even fund a new work-based vocational programme –he could even call it a Diploma.
