Catch21 Productions | Fast-food giant to offer staff McDiploma

Fast-food giant to offer staff McDiploma

The government has given McDonald's, Flybe and Network Rail approval to run courses which will count towards a flagship new academic and vocational diploma at A-level standard. To obtain this qualification students can combine current in-house staff training with relevant new courses in areas such as human resource management, marketing and engineering.

The announcement is significant as it is the first time commercial companies have been allowed to award nationally recognised qualifications based on their own professional training schemes. The secretary of state for skills congratulated the two transport companies and the fast-food giant for trail blazing this initiative, saying that he now expected other firms to follow suit. The announcement is part of the governments drive to involve private business in education in order up-skill the workforce. This initiative is a response to growing concerns voiced by business leaders that schools, colleges and even universities are not equipping their students with necessary skills to succeed in the workplace. Giving private companies the ability to gain awarding body status also acts as a powerful incentive to invest in staff training and development whilst enabling these staff to gain nationally recognised qualifications.

In order to achieve awarding body status each of the three companies had to met the standards set by the Qualifications Credit Framework to guarantee course quality. McDonald's, will pilot its level 3 'basic sift manager' course this month which is set to contain units in human resource management, marketing and customer service. Network Rail intends offer level 3 qualifications initially focusing on track engineering. Flybe, on the other hand, will run courses up to level 4 (degree level) for cabin crew, engineers and call centre staff.

This initiative is a demonstration of the governments endorsement of workplace learning; however, critics of the diploma argue that it will not match the academic standard of A-levels. In fact, the scale of resistance is such that almost half of university admissions tutors have said that they will refuse to accept students with the new qualification.

While I understand critics who fear that the new diploma will erode the rigorous academic standards of British qualifications, I welcome the move to involve business in improving the skills of the workforce. Firstly, this spreads the cost of education between the private and public sectors and encourages companies to offer high quality training and development opportunities for staff. Secondly, it gives non-academic students the chance to gain nationally recognised qualifications which will open up a wider range of opportunities for career development. It is also important to recognise that the initiative is a response to a skills deficit in the workforce and is therefore designed to boost the economy. It may take several years before a diploma accredited by a commercial company will viewed as the equal of a traditional A-level but this is a significant step towards a more diverse and flexible education system. After all, can it really be argued that better customer service in McDonald's or more qualified engineers on our railways is a bad thing?