Diplomas Heading For A Car Crash!

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 23rd Jan 2007

Following last week's call to delay the introduction of 14-19 Diplomas, six more witnesses gave pessimistic evidence to the Education and Skills Select Committee yesterday evening. Paul Holmes MP, Liberal Democrat member of the Committee, commented:

"What makes this all the more depressing is that 5 of these 6 witnesses represented schools and colleges that were bidding to be the first to deliver the Diplomas.

"The analogy used during the meeting was that Diplomas were heading for a car crash - but that it was not too late to wrench the steering wheel in a different direction.

"These Diplomas are essential if the UK is to match its international competitors. The Government must not ruin them by going off at half cock."

5 out of 6 witnesses told the Committee that:

'They had a lack of detail about the Diplomas, no idea when staff training was due to start, and no knowledge of the £50M development work being undertaken by the Training Development Agency and others since April 2006. All agreed that the 3 days face to face training proposed by DfES was completely inadequate if teachers were to be able to deliver such a radically different course.'

They also pointed to problems of competition between schools, and between schools and colleges which made collaboration on Diplomas difficult.

The sixth witness, John Bangs, Assistant Secretary of the NUT, told the Committee that most schools regarded the Diplomas 'as a remote prospect owned by a small number of people while employers had no idea what a Diploma is. The DfES is locked into a bunker mentality and will not respond to questions about the Diplomas.'