Learning for life

he ECA conference in Marbella seems a long time ago. It was a very useful but also highly enjoyable function, under the wise leadership of David Dennison, who took up his mantle of president of the Association on the first day.

Some people express surprise that the ECA holds its conferences overseas, and that they involve a significant social programme. Having attended four such events, I can see much value in them. The conference sessions are focused and business-orientated. The three afternoons and evenings involve extremely effective networking.

In my capacity as JIB chair, I was able to talk separately and jointly with the chief representatives of the ECA and Amicus AEEU. JIB work is always serious and demanding, but those couple of days a year in the sun can be used very effectively. It is no different in principle to President Bush and other world leaders meeting together for a weekend at some Canadian ranch to settle the greater issues of diplomacy.

JIB business does not rate in importance with nuclear test ban treaties or defeating terrorism, but it is important to the industry, and much useful work can be achieved away from offices, laptops and endless telephone calls. The ECA is wise to combine business with pleasure.

One major issue discussed in Marbella was the skills shortage. There are regional differences. Scotland and Northern Ireland have considerable success in recruiting young people as apprentices and bringing them through to completion of their courses. Other parts of the country struggle to attract trainees. This is not for the want of trying.

The parties to the JIB have always been involved with training issues. The 1970 training scheme, introduced soon after the JIB was formed in 1968, made formal qualifications an integral part of an apprenticeship. It was no longer enough "to sit next to Nellie" for five years and achieve skilled status by time-serving alone.

The 1984 scheme also led the way by insisting that the level of competence to be achieved after five years had to be externally sourced through AM2. With the introduction of NVQs, the JIB was the first awarding body in any sector of UK industry to be accredited to NVQ Level 3 in July 1987, based on City & Guilds qualifications, plus the AM tests. NET, and its predecessor the EIEITO, developed nationally-agreed standards for NVQs, which were implemented and incorporated into the 1984 JIB training scheme.

1999 saw another major change, but not one which many ECA members welcomed. The Qualification and Certification Authority made it clear to the JIB that NVQs had evolved towards continuous workplace assessment and away from external simulated tests. The industry was reluctant to abandon AM1, but had to do so because vital external funding might otherwise have been lost.

Too few companies train. Too few youngsters come forward. Of those that do, too few see it through to qualification

The 1999 scheme totally integrated the NVQ concept of achievement by assessment of competence, while retaining City & Guilds qualifications to deliver the underpinning of knowledge required.

AM2 has been kept, despite some initial pressure to scrap any external testing and, interestingly, there is increasing talk amongst training specialists in some other fields of construction activity that perhaps external tests are not such a bad idea after all.

The JIB has also expanded the scope of its training scheme to cover ancillary trades for which NET has developed standards, such as instrumentation, electrical maintenance, public lighting, panel building and machine repair and rewind.

All of the structural pieces are in place for high quality training of young people. Although the number of apprentices has increased in recent years it is still far below needs, and only about 50% of JIB registered trainees actually complete.

That does not mean that they all leave the industry. An unknown number probably undertake electrical work in other industries or outside the JIB's scope, though without the appropriate qualifications. There is also some evidence, which Amicus leader, Sir Ken Jackson, referred to in his strong presentation in Marbella, that by no means every volunteer deemed suitable for apprenticeship managed to find a place with a company involved in training.

It is difficult enough to encourage young people to join the industry in the first place. We cannot afford to let appropriate youngsters be disillusioned before they have even begun their training because they cannot find a firm prepared to take them on.

The Middle Ages and the Guilds system have long gone, when apprenticeship meant virtual bondage until the youngster gained their craft.