N/SVQ TAKE-UP TAKES OFF

MORE than 73,000 people are now working towards National or Scottish Vocational Qualifications (N/SVQs) in the hospitality industry.

Although the new N/SVQ training system got off to a slow start in 1992, the pace of registrations has now accelerated as employers and employees become more aware of the benefits of training.

According to the Hotel & Catering Training Company (HCTC), registration targets set by an original plan for March 1994 were exceeded six months earlier.

Writing in the third Implementation Action Plan, John Wells, chairman and managing director of Charles Wells Brewery and a HCTC trustee, said that while there were many activities contributing to the enhanced take-up, there was still much to be done in order to keep up the "encouraging momentum".

As well as setting out a large number of action points, the plan provided an analysis of the registration figures to 31 December 1993.

By far the greatest area of N/SVQ take-up has been in food preparation and cooking with almost 40,000 registrations, 11% of which have been issued with the qualification.

The second largest area of take-up was food and drink service, with 27,000 registrations and 8% qualified. Housekeeping and reception remain two areas where take-up has not been particularly high.

Interest in N/SVQs has been highest at levels 1 and 2, which was expected by the HCTC, given the numbers of people employed in the industry in occupations requiring competences at these levels.

The action plan said the scope for increasing uptake was encouraging with more than 750 accreditation centres approved and a further 90 waiting for approval. Many of these centres have started working with N/SVQs on a pilot basis and will be able to implement them next year.

The key barrier to even greater take-up of N/SVQs has been the issue of funding. The HCTC received a small number of responses to the Stage 2 Action Plan, published last September, from independent businesses, most of whom expressed the need for financial support and for evidence to show the business case for small businesses to invest in N/SVQs.

While funding is available from Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) for levels 2, 3 and 4, it does not apply to level 1. The HCTC has told the Government that restricting TEC funding for level 1 had the effect of denying most employers any monetary incentive to train staff for a level that represents the massive occupational base of the industry.

According to the HCTC, the industry will have to work harder at developing partnerships with regional TECs in order to secure funding for level 1 qualifications.

lThe HCTC has published a Learning Support Directory for N/SVQs. The directory provides details of materials such as books, videos and computer packages designed to support the qualifications.