Government warned UK faces major skills gap

Tuesday, 3 June 2003 12:00 AM

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has warned the Government that the UK will face a massive skills gap unless major changes are made to the further education sector.

Government funding restrictions are being blamed for restricting the number of adult students and red tape is being accused of stopping colleges from offering the additional training demanded by industry and business.

Ministers have set a target of halving the number of workers without basic qualifications by 2010. However the Association of Colleges argues that this target will fail as current funding limits the number of extra adult students colleges can take on to just 2 per cent.

David Gibson, AoC Chief Executive, explained that the Further Education sector wants to continue to be innovative and responsive when it comes to meeting industry's training needs, but to do this Colleges need to be given the freedom to compete against private trainers on a national level.

"We need to dispel the Government's rhetoric and make it clear that colleges do perform when it comes delivering training and qualifications," he stated.

He added: "The Further Education sector provides three times as much training (200 million days) than industry itself. A recent Adult Learning Inspectorate report commends colleges for their achievements in working with adults, and details that most adults aiming for a qualification are successful and that achievement rates are rising."

Currently one in three adult workers does not have any qualifications or is qualified below GCSE level.

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