You can't defend the undefendable

in this weeks TES, Angela O'Donoghue, Principla at SUndelrand City College says that it's unfair to run down the Skills for Life sganda.

She says that the College has trained thousanads through t's move on scheme which is essentially a re-branded Adult Lit & Num qualification. What she doesn't say is that there is very little training involved. I live in Sunderland, people are encouraged to simply take the test - it's no wonder that getting a qual does little to improve skills!

It's also a surprise to me that the City's colleges don't offer the more rigorous and demanding Diploma and Functional Skills, preferring to offer the much easier to pass route of SfL and BTEC. Why - a senior person told me it was all about pass rates. God forbid that the college decided to offer a course that employers demanded when it was as easy to go for the easy option.

I would ask that the College gets into the real world and takes its responsibilities to train and teach rather than get students past a test.