6 CONCLUSIONS
105. Over the course of this inquiry we have covered
a great deal of ground and have sought to engage as fully as possible
with the business side of the skills agenda as well as the educational
side. There have been a large number of detailed issues discussed,
but there are some key general points which need to be emphasised.
106. A good grounding in the fundamental elements
of literacy and numeracy are the key attributes that employers
tell us that they want from those entering the workforce. If this
is coupled with a sense of what is expected from them in the world
of work, then many employers would, we believe, be considerably
happier than at present. Greater levels of skills obviously have
benefits for individuals, and the economy overall needs people
with higher levels of skills, but how far that is a matter for
the education sector and how far for businesses is not a question
that has been decisively answered.
107. One thing that is certain is that qualifications
mean nothing unless they are valued by all; those who teach them,
those who study for them and those who use them as a means of
determining which people to employ or to admit to educational
institutions. The key test of the Government's proposals will
be whether the significant boost they are aiming to give to vocational
education and to the vital aspects of literacy and numeracy will
be well received by employers in particular. But the burden does
not lie all on the Government; employers have a real opportunity
to help devise a system of vocationally-based education which
meets their needs. Employers must engage with this process if
they want to be taken seriously in their demands for educational
improvement.
108. Finally, we return to a point that we made early
on in this report. Improved skill levels are a necessary condition
for higher productivity in the economy, but they are not in themselves
sufficient to achieve that end. Unless attention is constantly
paid to the other productivity drivers of enterprise, innovation,
competition and investment, resources put into better education
and training will not deliver the more productive economy that
we seek.
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