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Improvements in Workforce Qualifications: Britain and France 1979–88

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Hilary Steedman
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Extract

It is now widely recognised in advanced industrialised countries that ability to exploit technological innovation competitively is dependent upon the levels of skill available in the working population. In the early 1960s, both France and Britain took steps to remedy the problem of levels of craft and technician-level skills which were inferior to those of Germany. In the intervening twenty years, these intermediate skill levels have become increasingly important, in particular for manufacturing efficiency as micro-electronic control equipment and the efficient logistical organisation of production demand a new and wider range of technical services to maximise machinery utilisation and to combine it with the satisfaction of more sophisticated consumer requirements.

Type
Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 133 , August 1990 , pp. 50 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

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References

Notes

(1) The German figure is taken from work in progress at the National Institute and is based upon unpublished tabulations from the 1987 Mikrozensus for Germany.

(2) H Steedman, ‘Vocational training in France and Britain: mechanical and electrical craftsmen’, National Institute Economic Review, No. 126, November 1988. Table 6.

(3) SJ Prais and H Steedman, ‘Vocational training in France and Britain; the building trades’, National Institute Economic Review, No. 116, May 1986. H Steedman, ‘Vocational training in France and Britain: office work’, National Institute Economic Review, No. 120, May 1987. H Steedman, ‘Vocational training in France and Britain: mechanical and electrical craftsmen’, National Institute Economic Review, No. 126, November 1988. V Jarvis and SJ Prais, ‘Two nations of shopkeepers: training for retailing in France and Britain’, National Institute Economic Review, No. 128, May 1989.

(4) This account draws heavily on W D Halls, Education, Culture and Politics in Modern France, ch.5, Pergamon 1976 and on OECD, Reviews of National Policies for Education: France, pp. 133-137, Paris 1971.

(5) Ministère de I'Education Nationale, Note d'Information No. 86-18, Table 1; Note d'Information No. 89-33, Table 1. In both these tables young people entering apprenticeship are counted as staying within the education system.

(6) Agreements covering metal-working, the chemical industry, pharmaceuticals and the building industry are documented and analysed in F Eyraud, A Jobert, P Rozenblatt and M Tallard, Les classifications dans l'Entreprise, Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Formation Professionnelle, June 1989.

(7) The figure of 19 per cent comprises all higher education below degree level, all ONC certificates, all C&G passes.

(8) M. Duthoit, ‘Le processus d'orientation en fin de troisième’ in Education et Formation 1987 11. Ministère de I'Education Nationale, Duthoit divides his sample into three groups. In Group I (pupils who have not repeated a school year ie. average and above average ability), 78 per cent opt for the Baccalaureat course and 60 per cent are successful. In Group II (pupils who have repeated the last year of compulsory schooling), 48 per cent apply and 29 per cent are successful. (Fig i, p.40).

(9) Department of Education and Science Statistical Bulletin 13/88 Table 3 December 1988.

(10) The relevant qualifications can be further divided into upper intermediate skills, the former being qualifications obtained within the higher education system (French BTS, DUT, British HNC/HND); the latter being vocational qualificaitons normally obtained after the end of compulsory education and prior to entry to higher vocational education.

(11) This conclusion is also reached in relation to a much wider range of countries but including France and Britain in SJ Prais, Qualified Manpower in Engineering: Britain and other industrially advanced countries, National Institute Economic Review, No. 127, February 1989.

(12) Ibid. Table I.

(13) Some 165,000 pupils aged 16 or 17 left the education system in 1985 without obtaining recognised qualifications. Six months later, only 13,000 were in paid employment, the rest were in apprenticeship or other training schemes. Note d'information No. 87-34 Ministère de I'Education Nationale.

(14) The complete plan for leavers from education in the year 2000 is 5 per cent without qualifications, 20 per cent with a CAP or BEP, 30 per cent with a Baccalauréat, 20 per cent with BAC plus 2 years of higher education and 25 per cent at degree level. Haut Comité Éducation-Économie, Éducation-Économie: Quel système éducatif pour la société de l'an 2000? Documentation française, 1988, p.30.

(15) The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) set a target for the year 2000 of NVQ Level III or its academic equivalent by half the age group. Towards a skills revolution-a youth charter, Confederation of British Industry, July 1989. Trades Union Congress Skills 2000 1989.