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Innovative new qualifications in information technology skills are poised to provide an industry benchmark for Britain’s aspiring professionals and employers of ICT. A collaborative effort championed by E-skills and the Learning Skills Council (LSC) has launched an information technology qualification - or 'ITQ' - to remedy so far undefined skill levels within the UK labour market. The module-based NVQ qualification will address a wide range of IT skills offering helpful solutions to companies struggling with gaps in their expertise. "ITQ has been tailor-made by employers for employers and recognizes that IT is the new literacy requirement for the 21st century," says Karen Price, CEO at e-skills. Executives revealed a pilot scheme to trial run the national vocational qualifications was already underway and promised notable improvements to businesses and IT workers alike. Davis Way, National Director of Skills at the LSC, said: "The majority of the workforce in the UK needs to improve their competence and skills in the use of IT, and ITQ is a unique way of tackling this issue." He added: "Not only does it allow candidates to focus on specific topics and improve their individual skill sets, but it will also help businesses to target areas of need and base their IT qualification around what’s important to them." His comments reflect findings from e-skills that show more than 90 per cent of jobs in the UK require the use of information and communication technology (ICT) yet more than half of employers say their staff are not thoroughly skilled enough to carry out their IT related tasks. Further reasons for ITQ were traced to the ongoing demand for IT with 3.1 million people saying extra expertise would enhance their daily job performance. The pioneering bodies said that less than one in ten of all adults between 16 and 65 in the UK have level 2 or above IT skills - the standard that employers now insist upon as a bare minimum. 53 per cent of employers said basic computing skills were needed over the next couple of years while 47 per cent identified advanced IT skills as more important. E-skills calculations added that 29 million people potentially stand to benefit from the innovative course - the number of workers below level 2 expertise in info-tech skills. The strong call for the qualification has been warmly embraced by small companies seeking technical know-how for immediate ICT projects, as well as individuals keen for e-learning. So far under the trials, 3,500 learners from 300 employers have registered attracting support from awarding bodies, training providers and a host of public/private sector recruiters. ITQ can be linked to application-specific qualification, such as the Microsoft Office Specialist accreditation. David Libbert, ITQ project director, said at the launch of the scheme: "The future for ITQ will bring in the professional side, too, with a crossover between things such as basic spreadsheet training, networking and more complex applications. Employers are the ones who have pushed for the ITQ. Previously, there were a lot of companies that weren’t engaging with our offer – either the suppliers weren’t there or the training product wasn’t right." Both the LSC and e-skills expect to see 100,000 employees achieve ITQ each year by 2006-2007. Mr Libbert concluded: "We now have a clear framework of standards so companies can work out what their employees should be capable of doing." ITQ is available to the UK public from Autumn 2004. May 19, 2004 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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