Upskilling is the buzzword for Britain, and we’ve been given a big part to play in it

Last updated 11:29, Tuesday, 22 July 2008

The new academic year approaches and with it the mixture of excitement and trepidation as children and young people move into the next phase of learning.In the Carlisle district it is estimated that out of 46,000 people who are economically active, 11,000 do not have qualifications at level two.

For those aged 16 and over, staying in learning by entering college, an apprenticeship or the sixth form, it is a positive, conscious choice.

Legislation has not yet been passed to make it a legal requirement to remain in learning (or formal training in the workplace) until the age of 18.

So 16-year-olds are embarking on a stage in their lives that they recognise is the beginning of their future careers.

Increasing numbers of young people realise that continuing in learning will improve employment prospects and earnings potential for their future.

But what about the grown-ups? Can they sit back and say they have done all the learning they need – that the qualifications they have are sufficient?

Not according to Lord Leitch, who was asked to advise the Government on how to drive up the skills, and therefore the economic prosperity, of the UK and stop us falling behind in the global economy.

The result is a raft of changes now in place or being implemented to encourage employers and employees to engage in skills training in the workplace.

The most important initiative is Train to Gain.

There is a massive national advertising campaign to convince employers that a better trained and qualified workforce will improve their competitiveness and profitability.

For the employee the incentive is better job security and acquiring transferable skills.

There is an accelerating drive to ensure that every adult in the workplace is qualified to at least level two (equivalent to five GCSEs A-C or NVQ2) and then to level three (equivalent to two A-levels or NVQ3).

The emphasis on upskilling the adult workforce is one of the key elements of Government proposals to make the UK the best place for innovative business and public services to work.

In the White Paper “Innovation Nation” the Government set out how it intends to make sure the UK workforce is not only the best skilled but the most innovative. There are five key strategies relevant to educational institutions.

The first is about supporting business innovation using Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.

These have been in place for some time in some universities but now there is an expectation that further education (FE) colleges will become active.

It involves recently qualified students from universities or colleges being placed in businesses, with ongoing academic support, to become innovators or catalysts for change in terms of new ideas or innovative practices.

The second strategy is concerned with a strong and innovative research base.

This is linked to current commitments to develop science, engineering and maths but will go further with the creation of a Higher Education (HE) Innovation Fund.

The third strategy relates to international innovation with the intention that a new international strategy will be put in place to encompass HE and FE skills.

The fourth key strategy is the concept of “innovative people” with a range of initiatives to encourage innovation and skills development with Train to Gain firmly anchored within this strategy.

It also proposes a new “Further Education Specialisation and Innovation Fund” to support the FE sector to adapt the workforce so it can be more focussed on innovative business solutions.

The fifth strategy of interest for FE colleges is a possible new “power to innovate” where colleges could apply to have education legislation suspended or modified in order to try out innovative new approaches.

I am not yet convinced about this last one. In my experience FE colleges have a good record for innovation and have not been held back by education legislation – but I am keeping an open mind.

Perhaps the message in this for adults is to think like young people; that completion of one stage of learning is also the beginning of the next.