One of the most important aspects associated with plumbing are the effectiveness of working partnerships between all the elements of the profession, colleges and other training providers. The value of such relationships and partnerships cannot be overestimated. Having been a principal this was one aspect I encouraged but was aware that such relationships could become stained because of financial and political problems within the college. There was always the danger that colleges and staff could become preoccupied and inward looking with internal issues and as a result neglect external links. This again was often associated with financial cuts or problems
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Writing for Toffee?
Richard Evans is concerned about the decline in writing skills. Last September a number of daily papers (e.g. The Independent 6/09/08) ran reports on a study by exam boards and assessors/markers on the ability of candidates sitting GCSE and ‘A’ levels examinations to write their answers in longhand. According to the report, the number of requests from candidates for ‘scribes’ in examinations had increased from 28,324 in 2005 to 40,215 in 2007. The figures relate to the total number of requests for ‘scribes’ and clearly a particular candidate might require help for more than one subject. However it was unlikely
Youth Matters
One of the most unfortunate consequences of the current global financial crisis is the very high level of youth unemployment particularly in Europe. Sadly the present situation looks like it will persist for some time and already commentators are talking about a lost generation mirroring a similar situation in a number of regions in Britain in the 1980s e.g. North East and South West of England. I had direct experience of that situation in Cornwall and the plethora of short term schemes introduced by the then government most of which failed to create long term solutions. Unfortunately at present one