The proposal to develop a new framework for achievement, designed to recognise a wider range of attainment and be fit for employment purposes, was launched today by the Department for Employment and Learning.

In a speech to delegates attending the official launch of the Framework for Recognising Achievement consultative document (FfRA), Permanent Secretary at the Department for Employment and Learning Will Haire said the paper was the first time “a coherent, comprehensive strategy for skills,” had been attempted in Northern Ireland and that it marked the importance now attributed to skills as a major issue in economic development.

"The reform of vocational qualifications and their supporting infrastructure, is a major plank in the Skills Strategy and I applaud the speedy response by the Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), in beginning the consultative process on our behalf,” Mr Haire said.

"The work will culminate in addressing and agreeing the key issues and design principles, necessary to underpin the wide ranging reforms which are envisaged. Our vision is, that by 2010, modern qualification structures, tailored and quality assured to meet sector needs, will be in place within a new, unit-based credit framework."

In conclusion, Mr Haire said he believed that the introduction of a new framework had the potential to provide Northern Ireland with “the necessary levers, so urgently needed, to drive the Skills Strategy forward”.

(MB/SP)