HOW THE NVQ IS USED
Reading the story about Carole Edmond of Teddies Nurseries calling for an overhaul of National Vocational Qualifications (News, 6 March), it seems to me that there is some misunderstanding about NVQs.
An NVQ is not a programme of training but a system designed to determine an individual's ability to perform competently in their job, using a set of criteria agreed as the industry standard.
It is wholly unreasonable to expect, as your leader in the same issue says, a '16-year-old disaffected schoolgirl', a statement with implications that quite took me aback, to have any skills in an area of work that they are only beginning to get involved in.
An NVQ will be used to assess a young person as they gain skills and experience and demonstrate competence over a period of time, hopefully supervised and mentored by a supportive employer.
The NVQ continues to be used for the purpose it was first intended, in recognising the competence of a mature person who has gained skills and experience in early years but has no formal occupational qualifications. Many mature candidates have gained the recognition they deserve by the successful completion of an NVQ.
Carole Edmond argues that employers should be more engaged, involved in and recognised for developing the skills of the children's workforce. There are many training organisations that would be willing to nominate her for an award if she could find some way of motivating some employers to be interested in, let alone involved in training.
Some early years settings appear to want nothing to do with training and development beyond what is necessary to meet regulatory requirements. Younger NVQ candidates are often taken under sufferance, sometimes because they are free or cheap. Instead of managers and supervisors using the opportunity to be involved in training and developing the young person by sharing their experience and knowledge, they berate them for knowing so little.
Many of the improvements Carole Edmond calls for have already been met wherever the Government's apprenticeship programme is being competently delivered. I would encourage readers to visit the LSC or CWDC for further information about apprenticeships.
There are those who see it as part of the duty of a responsible employer to invest in training and developing their workforce. In this environment an NVQ candidate has every opportunity of reaching their potential and contributing to raising the standards of early years provision. These employers are to be commended.
But there are others who, for whatever reason, see training and development as totally someone else's responsibility, and in those settings NVQ candidates are a necessary nuisance to gain cheap labour.
John Calder, regional verifier for Children's Care, Learning and Development
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GETTING THROUGH NVQ
I whole-heartedly agree with Carole Edmond that NVQ does not 'train to the correct level' (News, 6 March). I work in further education and hear the conversations about how students can be 'got through' within a time limit. I understand my colleagues' dilemma; our jobs depend on funding from the Government that depends on our success rates. But we are not equipping the workforce or meeting learners' individual needs. NVQ trainers have a short number of hours to assess and little time for teaching.
If we think about the original purpose of NVQs, it was to acknowledge the skills that experienced practitioners had gained after many years. Now NVQ is used for completely inexperienced staff, many of them as young as 16 or 17. The support and direct teaching of a full-time course is not there in most cases.
I do not wish undermine those who have gained an NVQ qualification - some are excellent practitioners, usually because they are in good settings, observing good practice, and have some life experience. The amount of input from the assessor is limited, due to the pressure of completion time and rates.
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