A consultation on the future direction of skills policy.
In my Maiden Speech I talked about how important high quality learning and obtaining skills and qualifications are to us in South Derbyshire, and frankly how we need to do more. That is a target that I have set myself for the next 5 years. With that in mind I thought I would put up on my blog the information for you to read about and get involved with our new consultation on the future direction of skills policy.
Please see John’s comments and click on the links to take this further. John very kindly came and saw our colleagues at Rolls Royce and is absolutely committed to the issue and our side for future progress.
‘We want your views’, an introduction by John Hayes, Minister for FE
Skills are vital to our economy. This was clear even before Lord Leitch published his report in 2006, demonstrating the need for urgent action if we are to retain our competitiveness and make progress in the future.
Meeting this challenge necessitates building a system able to respond to the needs of a dynamic economy. We want to build a system driven by the informed choices of learners and employers. This means giving providers the flexibility they need to meet the needs of different learners and different economic sectors.
But too often in the recent past, the strength of the economic case has been portrayed as the only case for skills, creating an implicit divide between learning that is useful and learning that is useless. We emphasise the economic and overlook the social and cultural benefits of learning at our peril.
For the opportunities offered by education and training to be fully realised then learning must be embedded in our way of life. Only by seeing learning as a single whole, not a series of separate compartments, can we ensure that it takes its place at heart of both business strategy and community life.
Delivering future priorities will also involve making difficult choices about the use of public funds. I believe that we can deliver more and save money. But we will only achieve cost effectiveness by challenging the orthodox assumptions about what skills are for, how they are funded and what role Government should play. I am determined to ensure our decisions are the result of proper consultation so that policy reflects real priorities. I therefore welcome responses to the questions in this paper.
By acknowledging the value of learning we can begin the task of re-evaluating our priorities, rediscovering craft, redefining community learning, rejuvenating apprenticeships, rebalancing the economy and building a big society.
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