IAB集團宣言2024——將教育置于金融（財務）的核心
IAB Group Manifesto 2024 – Placing Education at the Heart of Finance
June 12, 2024/in Blog, IAB News, Tax/by tomsal
As we approach the coming General Election, there will be much talk about how to sort out the economy, immigration, cost of living and housing.
The IAB is an Awarding Body with one eye firmly on the future and we feel that education must take centre stage. Alongside its sister organisations, which together form the IAB Group, we are collectively promoting a vision where education is directly connected to skills.
This has a two-fold benefit; primarily enhancing the students career opportunities and earning potential. Secondly, we aim to support employers by tackling the chronic skills shortage in the labour market.
In a post Covid world, attitudes and technology such as AI are driving fast-paced change. Educational bodies need to adapt to the new landscape as demand for traditional academic learning is falling at an alarming rate and the current vocational training programmes seemingly have not successfully replaced the original apprenticeships.
The IAB Group believes in lifelong learning and has aligned itself with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality Education.
With all this in mind, these are the four key measures we would like to see implemented by any new incoming administration.
The Introduction of Micro Credentials in the Higher Education sector.
Micro credentials are a form of certification that demonstrate mastery or competence in specific skills or knowledge areas. Unlike traditional degrees which cover broad fields of study over several years, micro-credentials focus on narrower, more targeted areas and can often be earned in a much shorter time. They are typically awarded by educational institutions, professional organisations or online platforms.
They would not normally constitute an award in their own right, but they have standalone value and can also contribute to a recognised qualification. They also widen access to learners who might not have considered a more traditional approach to achieving a qualification, as well as potentially assisting with meeting skills needs for employers and learners.
There are benefits for everyone. Employers see it as an affordable investment in upskilling and retaining staff – which is particularly important in an ever-changing business environment. Meanwhile employees are paid to learn and can build a degree/ diploma etc over time. As well as acquiring up-to-date and relevant industry-specific skills.
More emphasis on ESG in the finance sector
At Cop27 it was announced that International Reporting Standards would be mandated across the globe. This requires companies to report their ESG data in a unified format within their financial accounts thereby allowing companies to be comparable and held accountable. This now means that finance professionals will be leading the conversation around sustainability and therefore offers a range of opportunities to grow their careers and practices..Demand for the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) Qualification continues to grow internationally but the UK is lagging behind therefore we would like to see more awareness of the importance of this duty communicated.
Raising Standards in the Tax Advice Market
The IAB advocates and supports the Raising Standards in the Tax Advice Marketconsultation: strengthening the regulatory framework and improving registration.
At a time when HMRC is leaning heavily on the finance sector to promote and implement the Government’s move to digitalisation it would seem prudent that bookkeepers, advisers and accountants providing ‘enabling’ services which are important for enterprise, business and government should be dependably professional and properly qualified.
Currently this is not the case; there is no effective register, professional standards are varied and opportunities for bad or incompetent practice are apparent.
Better financial literacy at schools.
Too few students leave with the necessary knowledge to run a basic household budget, let alone a small business. We have recently been running a free online workshop across libraries in Kent called “Managing your Finances” where concepts
such as how to read your payslip and understanding your Household Budget are taught.
We advocate that these basic financial skills should be included in the National Curriculum in all secondary schools.
Sarah Palmer, CEO of the IAB, says: “This General Election is a good time for the country to take stock of what is happening with the economy and to look ahead at the next five years.
“The IAB has always been passionate about supporting and educating our members. We are also looking to the future and recognise that we need to support both those entering the workplace and those already into their careers with the type of high quality training and qualifications they need to compete in what is an ever-changing marketplace.”
譯文：
隨著即將到來的大選的臨近，將有很多關于如何解決經濟、移民、生活成本和住房問題的討論。
IAB是一個著眼于未來的認證機構，我們認為教育必須成為中心。我們與共同組成IAB集團的組織一起，共同推動教育與技能直接相關的愿景。
這有雙重好處；主要提高學生的就業機會和收入潛力。第二，我們的目標是通過解決勞動力市場長期存在的技能短缺問題來支持雇主。
在后新冠肺炎時代，人工智能等態度和技術正在推動快節奏的變革。教育機構需要適應新的形勢，因為對傳統學術學習的需求正在以驚人的速度下降，而目前的職業培訓計劃似乎沒有成功取代原來的學徒制。
IAB集團信奉終身學習，并與聯合國可持續發展目標4——優質教育保持一致。考慮到所有這些，這是我們希望看到任何新上任的政府實施的四項關鍵措施。
在高等教育部門引入微型證書。
微型證書是一種證明在特定技能或知識領域掌握或能力的證書形式。與幾年內涵蓋廣泛研究領域的傳統學位不同，微型證書專注于更窄、更有針對性的領域，通常可以在更短的時間內獲得。它們通常由教育機構、專業組織或在線平臺頒發。
它們本身通常不會構成獎項，但它們具有獨立的價值，也可以為公認的資格做出貢獻。它們還擴大了那些可能沒有考慮采用更傳統的方法獲得資格的學習者的機會，并有可能幫助滿足雇主和學習者的技能需求。
每個人都有好處。雇主認為這是一項負擔得起的提高技能和留住員工的投資，這在不斷變化的商業環境中尤為重要。同時，員工可以獲得學習報酬，并可以隨著時間的推移獲得學位/文憑等。以及獲得最新和相關的行業特定技能。
金融部門更加重視ESG
在《聯合國氣候變化框架公約》第二十七次締約方大會上，宣布將在全球范圍內強制執行《國際報告標準》。這要求公司在其財務賬戶中以統一的格式報告其ESG數據，從而使公司具有可比性并承擔責任。這意味著金融專業人士將領導圍繞可持續性的對話，從而為他們的職業生涯和實踐提供一系列發展機會。。
國際上對IFRS（國際財務報告準則）資格的需求持續增長，但英國落后了，因此我們希望看到更多人意識到這一義務的重要性。
提高稅務咨詢市場的標準
IAB倡導并支持提高稅務咨詢市場的標準協商：加強監管框架和改進登記。
在英國稅務海關總署嚴重依賴金融部門來推動和實施政府數字化舉措之際，提供對企業、企業和政府重要的“扶持性”服務的記賬員、顧問和會計師應具有可靠的專業性和適當的資質，這似乎是謹慎的。目前情況并非如此；沒有有效的注冊，專業標準參差不齊，不良或不稱職的執業機會顯而易見。
提高學校的金融知識。
很少有學生在離開時掌握了管理基本家庭預算所需的知識，更不用說小企業了。我們最近在肯特郡的圖書館舉辦了一個名為“管理你的財務”的免費在線研討會，教授如何閱讀工資單和理解家庭預算等概念。
我們主張將這些基本財務技能納入所有中學的國家課程。
IAB首席執行官Sarah Palmer表示：“這次大選是國家評估經濟狀況并展望未來五年的好時機。
“IAB一直熱衷于支持和教育我們的會員。我們也展望未來，認識到我們需要支持那些進入工作場所的人和那些已經進入職業生涯的人，為他們提供在不斷變化的市場中競爭所需的高質量培訓和資格。”
