Upbeat Vision for Future of Northern Ireland Economy - Smith

What will be the state of play on the jobs, skills, education and economic fronts by the year 2015?

This was the question posed in a speech delivered by Employment and Learning Minister Angela Smith, when she opened today’s Skills Conference at the Ramada Hotel in Belfast.

Speaking to Northern Ireland’s leading policy makers, educationalists, training providers and business leaders, Angela Smith said that there had been much debate about skills development here and added:

“Our vision has been set and our route to achieve that vision has been agreed.  The time has come for action on all fronts. We know the four key areas for development and these are - understanding the demand for skills; improving the skills levels of the workforce; improving the quality and relevance of education and training and tackling the skills barriers to employment and employability.”

Launching a programme for implementation of the strategy for the future, the Minister detailed the existing initiatives being taken and new programmes to improve the skills levels of the Northern Ireland workforce.

In addition to improving skills levels, as many as 16 different initiatives will focus on, for example, completely changing our vocational training programme for young people to align with the 14-19 agenda and incorporating new pre-vocational programmes and pre-apprenticeships announced recently in the Skills and Science Funding Package.

It also includes the full implementation of the FE Review and a shift to an economically-focused six college model and it builds in the role of Higher Education in skills.

In an upbeat assessment of her vision for Northern Ireland in the year 2015 Angela Smith said:

“The workforce will be both literate and numerate with good ICT skills. Individuals will become more innovative and enterprising and expect to learn new skills throughout their lives. The economy will become highly competitive, small businesses will be encouraged to grow and there will be strong coherent support services for businesses of all sizes.”

On the education and training and employment fronts the Minister added:

“In this vision, the old debate of academic versus vocational is finished.  A curriculum combining vocational and academic elements will expand young people’s awareness of the world in which they live and help to develop employability skills.  Young people will be able to use their knowledge and skills across different contexts, flexibly and with the capacity to work with others.

“The education and training sector will be highly responsive to the needs of employers, providing the skills needed for innovation and enterprise, which will by then be embedded in the system.”

Reaffirming her commitment to the Skills Strategy and urging all stakeholders to play a part in making Northern Ireland a success story, Angela Smith concluded:

“I look forward to seeing Northern Ireland reap the undoubted economic and social benefits which will result from the development of a more highly skilled workforce.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

  1. The conference theme was “The Value of Skills in Developing a World Class Economy”.
  2. Media enquiries to the Department for Employment and Learning Press Office on 028 9025 7492.