Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has voiced his support for lifelong learning and the vital role that Further Education colleges play in this.
Speaking at the University and College Union’s (UCU) Cradle to Grave conference, Mr Corbyn highlighted the necessity of access to education at any age, in a time when the UK faces a troubling skills gap crisis.
The opposition leader was critical of the government’s cuts to funding for adult education, highlighting the fact that the Adult Skills Budget (ASB) has been reduced by 35% in the past five years, which could lead to a drop of around 190,000 course places for adult education in 2015-2016. Education needs to be a lifelong process… We must enable lifelong learning in order to succeed as individuals and as a society.
“All these cuts and attacks are doing permanent damage to the whole of our society and the ability to develop a much stronger, manufacturing-based, innovative economy in the future,” he commented.
Mr Corbyn argues that access to adult education is vital to tackle the skills gap facing the UK; the recent Employer Skills Survey (ESS) revealed that a quarter of all job vacancies are difficult to fill due to a shortage of people with the right skills. This is particularly evident in the specialist gas, water, electric and construction industries. Corbyn says: “education is absolutely vital in addressing the biggest challenge facing the economy in Britain, which is the skills gap at the present time.”
Upskilling and learning new skills throughout a lifetime is also important, he argues, for a generation that is likely to see a raised retirement age: “education can be a lifeline for the future.”
The Labour leader had praise for Further Education colleges in these difficult times, as the sector gives learners from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to not only access further and vocational education, but to then progress to Higher Education through the college system. Colleges and Further Education must be protected to ensure everyone is given an equal opportunity to succeed.
We welcome the comments of Mr Corbyn in a time when we’ve seen funding for adult education suffer severe cuts. Education is essential, not only for personal development and improving career prospects, but also for upskilling or a potential career change. When the UK is facing an immediate skills crisis, and unemployment is still a pertinent issue, upskilling is essential to filling those roles and ultimately increasing employment.
Vocational education is the answer to tackling the skills gap; 2014 research by The Edge Foundation predicted that 90% of the most in-demand jobs in 2022 will be attainable with a vocational qualification. The careers that face the biggest specialist skills gaps are best reached through the study of a vocational qualification.
We know that the education sector is in limbo at the moment, with constant shifts in policy and cuts to funding no doubt having a significant impact on colleges and other educational institutions. It’s good to hear praise for the hard work colleges are carrying out in difficult times and to hear support for the vocational education sector, which often doesn’t get the credit it deserves.
The government has stated it’s committed to reducing unemployment and tackling the UK’s growing skills gap. To do that, we must make sure that education is accessible to everyone in order to create a workforce that has the skills employers need.
As Mr Corbyn states: “Education needs to be a lifelong process… We must enable lifelong learning in order to succeed as individuals and as a society.”
