The data, obtained by this newspaper, comes in a week when the sector has warned of the urgent need to change policy in attracting young people to occupational study.
And the Department for the Economy and The Executive Office were warned about the impending skills crisis.
Letters sent to the Department several years ago said the trade skills sector was “heading for very difficult times over the next few years as fewer and fewer young people in our schools are being given access to occupational studies subjects in local FE Colleges”.
Occupational studies were established by the examinations body CCEA to give young people with vocational careers in mind experience in various areas.
Figures paint a bleak picture of the future of trades and skills education. Photo: Monkey Business Images
But in SW College Omagh alone, the number of students has plummeted. In 2015/16, there were 147 in Year 11 occupational studies classes. By 2018/19, that had dropped to just 57, with a similar picture across the country.
Most concerning for the future of the economy is the number of students taking up study through the Entitlement Framework (EF). which for the past 10 years has given 14-15-years-olds from schools the option to attend colleges one day per week to study subjects like joinery, mechanics, bricklaying, plumbing, construction, engineering, digital technology, food preparation and hair and beauty, with a view to finding out which area they might pursue as a career.
Many of these young people return to further education after leaving school to continue with their studies and progress into Level 3 and Level 4 qualifications.
But between 2012/13 and 2018/19, the numbers had more than halved, from 2,054 to 1.026.
Earlier this week, the Department for the Economy blamed falling student numbers on exam grades, which were teacher assessed in the last two years and saw 56,000 students go on to study at further education colleges in 2020/21, compared to 71,000 in the previous academic year.
But the historic figures show the trend was developing long before the Covid pandemic.
“With the cuts to educational budgets, many of the schools that allowed their students access to occupational studies have removed this option to students in an effort to save money,” a former college lecturer told this newspaper.
“With ever decreasing budgets, schools are cutting the courses provided by the colleges in a bid to save money. As further education is under the umbrella of the Department for the Economy, colleges charge schools for their services. Many rural schools are further disadvantaged as they have considerable transport costs to meet each week in order to get their students to local colleges.
“As a result, students are not being given the opportunity to experience occupational studies subjects or being taught these in their schools in facilities that are not reflective of what these subjects demand.
“It is time that those in control of budgets started to realise that we need to promote vocational skills and give young people opportunities to sample these skills-based subjects in properly resourced environments.
“Our construction, hospitality, beauty and digital industries will experience massive difficulties in finding trained employees if current trends continue.
“The Department of Education and the Department of Employment must react now to stop these subjects disappearing from local colleges and ensure that young students can sample vocational subjects to enable them to make informed choices about their careers.”
Despite the warnings, the trend is continuing.
Ken Webb, the chair of the Colleges Principals’ Group, called for a new approach to address the general decline in student numbers.
“The implementation of Department of Education’s Entitlement Framework has resulted in a changed education system with increased duplication of courses, such as schools offering vocational courses at both Key Stage 4 and at A Level,” he said.
“We have also seen an increase in unsustainable Sixth Forms, an issue highlighted by the Education Authority’s Area Planning report last week.
“We are failing young people if we do not provide them with all the information they need to make more informed decisions following their GCSEs and A-levels.
“These vocational pathways provide alternative routes and we need to see these grow if we are to address future skills needs.”
