BTEC is launched

BTEC is about education and training for employment. It has been said that education is merely training done well; so I am particularly pleased that Sir Keith Joseph, Secretary of State for Education & Science, is here with Tom King, the Employment Secretary. The accepted national approach that I, and many other employers, fail to understand is the division of responsibility for education and training across different Departments of State. As employers we believe this division is nonsense, as education and training must be two parts of a whole. Therefore I was very glad to sign an agreement last week between BTEC and the Engineering Industry Training Board for Joint Certification of both education and training for engineering technicians and technician engineers. Sir Richard O'Brien, EITB Chairman, who is abroad at the moment, shares my satisfaction that we have been able to come together. BTEC will be pursuing arrangements like this one in other fields.