The UK is set for a skills shake-up after Lord Mandelson announced a new government strategy that aims to simplify the national education and training system.
Launched yesterday, 'Skills for Growth – The National Skills Strategy' whitepaper, produced by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, heralded new beginnings for the heavily critisised and complicated skills quango. In addition to the creation of a ‘personal skills account’ worth up to £5,000, for each adult to help document their learning and purchase training, the paper has set out ambitious targets to create 35,000 apprenticeship places over the next two years.
Commenting in an official statement, business secretary Lord Mandelson said: “An active government approach to equipping this country for globalisation means making sure we have the skills that underwrite the industries and jobs of the future. That means skills for the high tech, low carbon, more high-value added sectors that drive the growth that underwrites everything else we want to achieve as a society.”
Backing the move, Susan Anderson, CBI director of education and skills, said: “This whitepaper is a step in the right direction. Improving the skills of the workforce will be critical to the UK’s economic recovery and future growth.
Backing the move, Susan Anderson, CBI director of education and skills, said: “This whitepaper is a step in the right direction. Improving the skills of the workforce will be critical to the UK’s economic recovery and future growth.
“There are tough decisions ahead for the government, but it is right to focus on delivering valuable skills such as science, technology and engineering, and high-skilled apprenticeships. Giving apprenticeships UCAS points should enable more people to progress to higher education,” she said.
Following a report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills earlier this year, the whitepaper has acknowledged recommendations to reduce the number of publicly funded skills bodies with the government pledging to axe or merge a number of agencies including the Qualification and Curriculum Development Agency and Lifelong Learning UK.
“Business will welcome the attempts to simplify the overly-complex system of organisations delivering skills training and support,” added Anderson. “The real test for any new system will be whether it delivers the high-quality training and skills that firms and the economy need,” she concluded.
