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Chapter Two The value of formal recognition
The review found a considerable variation in reported rates of part-time work among school pupils around the world. The range was from 75-80% in high-participation countries to 15-17% in low-participation countries. The UK appears to be at or near the top rate, although there are no definitive figures. 4
This finding puts the recommendation in Determined to Succeed - that 'opportunities for certification of appropriate part-time work as part of the National Qualifications Framework must be investigated so that it is clearly recognised by employers' 5 - in a new light. The question which arises is, 'If three quarters or more of the older school pupils in Scotland are involved in part-time work and if such work can be beneficial in the ways identified by the OECD, would some form of formal recognition of this experience capture, reinforce or even increase these suggested benefits?'
Scotland has seen a remarkable growth in the formal recognition of skills and knowledge in all sectors over the past half century. As a result of a series of Government policies based on qualifications, both the rates of participation in certificated learning in all sectors and the range of accredited provision available to these learners have grown significantly. The Action Plan of the mid-1980s and the work of Scotvec in implementing and developing the unitisation of vocational qualifications in the 1990s were particularly important in demonstrating the ways in which accreditation could be valuable. In the current climate, formal recognition of the outcomes of part-time work, particularly through accreditation of some kind, would be likely to give part-time work a status which it may not currently enjoy and could result in one or more of the following advantages.
Formal recognition of the outcomes of part-time work could:
- record the actual skills and/or knowledge gained from/during the part-time work, adding value to the experience
- assist teachers and learners to capitalise on the experience in formal learning
- assist school leavers, recruiters and selectors to capitalise on the outcomes of part-time work in interviews for jobs and places in colleges and universities
- highlight to employers, pupils and parents the potential value of part-time work and the importance of making it a positive experience
However, there are cautions to be entered here. This list of advantages is dependent on the part-time work in which the pupil is engaged leading to positive and appropriate outcomes. In the best of circumstances, for example where the part-time worker is given full access to training and development, the advantages may be significant, but employers of part-time labour have been shown 6 to vary greatly in their attitudes to training in general and to the training of young part-timers in particular. If the work is boring, restrictive, repetitive and not supported by mentoring or training, then it is likely to create negative, rather than positive outcomes. 7 These issues are expanded on in the next section.
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