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Get a slice of the £5.5 billion available for improving your skills
April 1st 2001 saw the quiet birth of Learning and Skills Councils (LSCs) across England. It’s surprising how little coverage they’ve received in view of their huge budget and ambitious aims. The £5.5 billion for this year alone is the start of a mission to raise the skills levels of the nation and ensure that, by 2010, we no longer lag behind our competitors. Instead of sitting near the bottom of EU numeracy and literacy league tables, we should by then be able to boast of a population with ‘knowledge and skills matching the best in the world’.
No easy task. Currently, seven million people, 20% of the adult working population, lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. We’ve seen relaxation of immigration requirements to ease the problems of severe skills shortages because there’s simply not enough homegrown talent to fill many jobs. Alongside that there are thousands of frustrated adults who, feeling their jobs are going nowhere, would really appreciate the chance to upgrade their skills and increase their prospects of better job security and financial reward. At the moment, many don’t feel able to do this because they can’t find something to suit them, don’t know what they need, can’t afford the fees or the time or can’t get to the places offering training.
The vision of the LSC is to change all that. For the first time there is a single body coordinating and funding all post-16 training and education up to degree level. This includes work-based training, courses in colleges, adult education and community learning. The remit of the LSC covers six areas:
- Raising participation and achievement by young people
- Increasing demand for learning by adults
- Raising skill levels for national competitiveness
- Improving the quality of training and education delivery
- Equalising opportunities through better access to learning
- Improving effectiveness and efficiency
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