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Best ladders of opportunity. Government Skills Initiatives in the UK.

Best ladders of opportunity. Government Skills Initiatives in the UK. Presenter: Jane Simmons Organisation: Hope Business School, Liverpool Hope University Address: Hope Park, Liverpool, L16 9JD. Telephone: 0151 291 3911 Email address: simmonj@hope.ac.uk

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Best ladders of opportunity. Government Skills Initiatives in the UK.

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  1. Best ladders of opportunity.Government Skills Initiatives in the UK. Presenter: Jane Simmons Organisation: Hope Business School, Liverpool Hope University Address: Hope Park, Liverpool, L16 9JD. Telephone: 0151 291 3911 Email address: simmonj@hope.ac.uk Conference theme the student lifecycle.

  2. The title of this paper is a quotation from a speech given by, the then UK education secretary, Ruth Kelly to the Association of Colleges conference in Birmingham on November 16, 2005. In that speech she suggested that ‘the economic imperative of education, training and skills is clear and real…For most people, the best ladders of opportunity we can give them are the skills and qualifications to get a decently paid, sustainable, rewarding job.’ This focus of this paper is UK government initiatives over the last forty, or so, years which have been designed to both upskill the workforce and to improve the UK’s global competitive position.

  3. Summary of key UK government educational initiatives and UK in world educational rankings 1

  4. Summary of key UK government educational initiatives and UK in world educational rankings 2

  5. Summary of key UK government educational initiatives and UK in world educational rankings 3

  6. Summary of key UK government educational initiatives and UK in world educational rankings 4

  7. Conclusions • By 1989 little progress appeared to have been made in upskilling the workforce. Gavyn Davies, Chief UK Economist at Goldman Sachs at that time, was quoted as saying ‘a modern developed economy can only prosper if it has a labour force with skills and education to compete with the best. Ours patently hasn’t,’ The Guardian (16/8/1989). • Moving forward fifteen years the same problems in relation to workforce skills were still being identified. Gordon Brown (2004), the British Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, stated that ‘if we are to succeed in a world where offshoring can be an opportunity…our mission (is) to make the British people the best educated, most skilled, best trained in the world..’

  8. Leitch Report • Leitch report (2006, 1), considered the importance of re-skilling the workforce summarised the position that time in this way ‘our nation’s skills are not world class and we run the risk that this will undermine the UK’s long term prosperity.’ • That report highlighted an even more critical fact that over 70% of the UK 2020 workforce has already completed their compulsory education; many of them will now be unable to acquire the new qualifications necessary to meet the challenges of a global economy because of the new ELQ funding regime.

  9. Conclusions • In the ten years between 1997 and 2007 UK government spending on education rose from £29 billion to £77.4 billion • 2008 OECD survey warned that UK educational system was lagging behind its western European neighbours at both secondary and tertiary levels.

  10. References • Brown G. (2004) Speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown at the CBI annual conference in Birmingham, available at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2004/press_88_04.cfm, accessed 16/1/2007. • Grimston J. ‘New universities to revert to old polytechnic role,’ The Sunday Times February 22, 2009 • Keep E. and Mayhew K. (2004) ‘The economic and distributional effects of current policies on higher education, published in Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 20(2), pp. 298-314. ’ • Learning and Skills Council (2006) ‘Skills in England 2005,’ Vol. 1-3, LSC, London • Leitch S (2006)' Leitch Review of Skills. Prosperity for all in the global economy-world class skills,’ HM Stationery Office. • Manpower (2006) ‘Now / Next. A Manpower Report: The Changing World of Work.’ • Morgan-Klein B. and Osborne M.. (2007) ‘The Concepts and practicesofLifelongLearning’, Rutledge, London. • OECD (2008) ‘Education at a Glance 2008 OECD Indicators,’ OECD Publications, Paris. • Richardson W. (1998) ‘Work-based Learning for Young People: national policy- 1994-1997, published in the Journal for Vocational Education and Training, Volume 50, Number 2, 1998 • Segal A (1995) ‘Britain fails to compete with top economies,’ Daily Telegraph, 6th September. • Usher, A. and Cervenan, A. (2005). ‘Global Higher education Rankings 2005,’Toronto, ON: Educational Policy Institute.

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