Training the young clerical worker

Training in clerical work has largely been neglected in the past, even by those employers who fully supported training for other employees. With the establishment of the training boards it was hoped that the situation would be remedied, but clerical jobs are diverse and employers' attitudes to the training of clerical staff hard to change. Derby College of Further Education introduced the Certificate in Office Studies, the two‐year day‐release course for clerical workers, right from its inception in 1965. The course has always been well supported, having an enrolment last session of over one hundred students in each year of the course. The nature of the COS, extending over two years, still left ample scope for the development of a shorter, more intensive and practical course, which would help the young entrant settle more rapidly into his commercial employment. The emphasis, in this context, is on the word rapidly. At this stage we were aware of the need to make new clerical workers effective in a short time and that this required some form of block‐release. As the various schemes for block‐release courses have been proposed, we have welcomed them and implemented them.