30 Jul 2004
The Chemistry Leadership Council calls for Cogent to develop training "gold standard".
The CLC said in a report: "For an industry that has both a strong record of technological innovation and a strong record of driving down its costs, it is likely that in ten years' time it will need fewer but more highly skillked and technology-literate employees who will be expected to operate more flexibly and across existing skills boundaries".
The gold standard should focus on training people to a minimum standard of NVQ Level 3, the CLC recommends. After this first stage, attention can trun to identifying sicence, engineering and technology skills needed for innovation.
The CLC said Cogent should drive this work forward and "seek to persuade government to align funding with accredited qualifications under the banner of the gold standard".
Cogent's Chief Executive John Ramsay said: "This report is a clear mandate from the chemistry-using industries on what Cogent must provide. I endorse this report and the leadership role it gives to Cogent in delivering key recommendations such as the gold standard".
CLC Chairman Barry Stickings said the report Skills for the 21st Century Chemicals Industry presents clear challenges to our industries, to the sector skills councils, in particular Cogent, to government and to the CLC itself".
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