My Freeview TV regularly lets me know that I have new channels to download. Pressing okay and waiting for 5 minutes gives me several new shopping channels or +1 channels and some digital radios. There are now hundreds on my TV and I haven't quite managed to create a proper list of favourites.
I find it has become like that with FE quangos, too. Failing to work my way around the LSC, Ofsted, Excellence Gateway, QCA/QCF, LSN websites even when I know that somewhere on them someone has placed something important and is sure I've found it. The separation of the LSDA into the LSN and the QIA has been superseded by the QIA and CEL being merged into Price Drop TV - no, that can't be right - it's LSIS. All of these come with assurances that their actions "will not lead to an increased burden on providers" and are a critical part of the move to a "self regulated FE sector".
This self regulated FE sector includes something that sounds like a character from a Dr Who episode broadcast on one of my more remote digital channels: The Single Voice. Actually, if you look at the site, you can see the Single Voice is not an alien villain but a bunch of cheery looking people who have formed themselves into a limited company to speak for Further Education.
I went to an LSIS/LSC event this week in Bristol about the new Framework for Excellence. This is a scheme that seeks to create a numerical measure of excellence that will score providers so that the LSC can decide whether to commission work from them without all the current bother that's involved. The event was run again by Deliotte who have been involved in the self-regulation drive for some time and, in the summer of 2007, were likening it to the self-regulation of the Finance Sector by the FSA. They didn't say that this week for some reason. Their homepage is now advises on surviving the economic downturn. No doubt this contract helps them with that! In Bristol we were treated to an introduction that said 'the FE sector is made up of Further Education Colleges and Workbased Learning Providers'. It seems the post Leitch monoculture is alive and well in these events despite John Denham's genuine efforts to recognise and secure a wider concept of education for adults.
Similarly, an enquiry I made in early September about changes to the recording of achievement in non-accredited provision in returns to the LSC led to a round of electronic correspondence involving Ofsted, The Information Authority, the LSC and maybe now DIUS. The first three of these used to all be part of the FEFC until 2001! Disappointingly the FEFC no longer runs a website.
As you know, all parties are clear that the learner is the centre of this process! Because of this I hope the links to these valuable websites is welcome to you. I'm sure you could point me at more.
Anyway, back to reruns of 'The West Wing' on More 4+1 - unless one the kids wants to watch a Top Gear repeat on 'Dave'.
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