YOUNG PEOPLE ARE BEING LEFT BEHIND WITH OUTDATED SKILLS

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 17th Jan 2007

Commenting on Sir Digby Jones' warning that UK will face a 'serious decline' in business unless urgent action is taken to improve the skills of British workers, Liberal Democrat Sam Potts said:

"To really turn around Britain's skills deficit the Government needs to take an wide-ranging approach and back up rhetoric with resources.

"The Leitch Report placed the emphasis for re-skilling the workforce firmly on employers. But if the Government does not offer financial support and incentives there is little hope that the necessary training will occur on the scale needed.

"Of course, half the answer is to get things right in schools in the first place. The outdated and ineffective secondary curriculum is turning teenagers off learning and not giving them the skills they need to succeed in modern Britain.

"For those who have already left school, so-called leisure courses are often the route back into education. The Government is making a grave mistake in continuing to underestimate the value of adult learning courses for reaching out to the unskilled and getting them back into the classroom."

ENDS