Chefs need to be able to read too!

A little bit of a row broke out this weekend, with several famous "celebrity chefs" coming out and saying that forcing new Apprentices to learn English and maths by having to pass Functional Skills would lead to "no new chefs".
Sorry - don't agree.  Let's not forget that chefs are not always chefs - they do change jobs and need transferable skills, and surely to be successful, you do need to be able to manage a menu, understand costs, recruit and employ and so on.
And let's not forget that an Apprenticeship should be seen as an aspirational qualification, and the that being able to read well, write and do  simple maths is a basic necessity of modern life.
So come on chefs, support the basics, you wouldn't let a chef in your kitchen that couldn't make good scrambled eggs or a tasty stock from basics, the same should apply to Functional Skills, maths and English.