The National Curriculum, testing and league tables came into being; schools were given control over their own budgets; city technology colleges were established and became the forerunners of specialist schools and academies; all schools had the chance of greater freedom by becoming grant-maintained; and polytechnics, like Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield were freed from council control and set on their path to becoming universities.

In those days, Jack Straw led for Labour in education and he
promised to repeal the lot. But, in 1997, Tony Blair kept the Bill virtually intact and set about expanding CTCs: the one policy that he became most proud about.

Changes have been made, of course. The curriculum has been simplified, but tests have remained. Then they were bitterly opposed by the teacher unions, but checking a child's progress at seven, 11 and 14 is necessary to find out the help that is needed for those falling behind, and parents want to know how their child's school is doing compared
with others.

The recent tests and examination results show, however, that more is now needed. New problems have emerged. Discipline is essential to education but it has certainly become more difficult to enforce. The authority of teachers has been challenged and former sanctions have been removed. In some schools, disruptive children have become a major problem.

In many inner-city areas, young boys of 13 and 14 find going to school irksome and irrelevant, and many reach 16 with no significant qualifications. So what should we do?

One thing our country has missed out on is good vocational schools. Several attempts have been made since the 1870s, but they have generally fallen by the wayside. The 1944 Butler Education Act established three types of school – grammar, secondary modern and technical, but the first to disappear was the technical school as it had become "infra-dig"

Ironically, this English pattern was adopted by Germany in 1945 and became very successful: their youngsters who attend technical schools acquire skills in engineering, construction, manufacturing and design. Germany's technical schools today have more applicants than their grammar schools and Germany produces three times the number of qualified technicians than the UK.

The Government has half-stumbled upon the truth. It has been working now for some years on a 14-19 curriculum that is vocation-based. It has published a new type of qualification – the diploma – in certain vocational skills such as engineering, construction and ICT, and one is currently being written on manufacturing, production and design.

The Government hopes that ordinary comprehensive schools will be able to teach diplomas alongside the GCSE. However, our secondary schools do not have the space, equipment or the qualified staff to teach welding, metal-turning, brick-laying, woodwork, plastering, electric circuitry, etc.

If a school wants to teach the diplomas, it will have to look to
the local further-education colleges for support, but this means lots
of bussing for pupils, and that is disruptive.

What is needed is a new type of school for 14-19-year-olds, based on vocational skills. Many people in the educational world now believe that the age of transfer would be better at 14 instead of 11.

By that time, many pupils have sorted out for themselves their interests and know what they want to concentrate upon. These technical colleges of 500-600 students can be sponsored by a university under the academy programme.

University technical colleges would have two streams of entry: one for apprentices and one for those who want to obtain other qualifications provided by Edexcel and City & Guilds, and then move on to foundation degrees. From the start of enrolment, at 14, there would be at least one day release a week to work in local companies.

It is important, therefore, for local firms to become actively involved and support these colleges. Such businesses will provide not only the apprenticeship places, but also practical help in teaching because we do not have enough qualified teachers with the necessary vocational skills.

Companies will also help to give the pupils the chance of working with the very latest technology and machinery.

A diploma will count for three GCSEs, and students will study four more – in English, maths, science and IT.

Technical colleges will provide a base for students to which they can come back time and time again to up-date their technical qualifications and to learn about the new skills and the latest equipment.

It will be much better for pupils to be based in a technical college and go out into the business world rather than go into the business world and come back to a college on perhaps just one day a week.

I am glad to say that there is a widening recognition that these university technical colleges are needed. Lord Dearing and I are now promoting them. We are finding that universities are very interested in becoming sponsors as they want to become involved in the educational process, not just at 18, but at a much earlier age.

Universities know that it is important to make a success of youngsters' early formative years. That is why they will be backing university technical colleges. They can help in curriculum development and in teaching, and by guiding suitably qualified students on to foundation and full degrees.

As a country, we are about to embark on a major nuclear development, major rail development, major environmental schemes and an expanded housing programme. We must ensure that we have the right degree of skills at all levels, from technicians to professional experts and experienced managers, to master all these opportunities.


Lord Baker of Dorking was Education Secretary from 1986-89