IT'S a known fact that not every child in our schools is academically gifted.

Instead, some youngsters have talents in other, more practical areas, and this is something which should be recognised.

Over the last few years, vocational qualifications for 16-year-olds have become more prevalent as their talents have become more rewarded.

But this progress appears to have now taken a backward step, with the Government saying these qualifications will no longer count towards school league tables and even more recently school improvement guru Dr Terry Wrigley criticising academies for their over-use of them.

Surely in today's world we should be encouraging young people to thrive on what ability they have.

There will always be those who are great in the classroom and are hotshots at traditional subjects and they should be able to concentrate on what they are best at.

But those who aren't should never be discounted and left behind.

Rather, we should provide them with pathways to further develop their abilities and get qualifications which suit them and can lead them into a career of their choice, which is something that vocational qualifications allows for.

Nigel Akers, of Djanogly City Academy, where vocational qualifications are very much promoted, rightly points out other benefits in support of them.

Among the most pertinent of these is the variation in the curriculum that the afford and the experience that youngsters can gain.

Vocational qualifications in areas like engineering for example can see them learning on the job, which is far more useful from their point of view than just turning up at an employers' door with a list of academic qualifications.