It’s perfectly understandable that following the latest Estyn report on school standards there will be business leaders concerned that young people leaving school and looking for work in Wales may seem unprepared for life in the workplace.
But, in my view, the picture is nothing like as bleak as it’s being painted – and rapid progress on improving the situation is now being made. Initiatives introduced by the Welsh Government back in 2007 should not be measured in the short term and will clearly take a school generation to come to fruition.
We won’t see the full results of the Welsh Government Foundation Phase programme – designed to ensure our schools consistently produce young people fit for the workplace in every way – for a few years yet.
However, that’s not to say the majority of young people leaving school now and looking for work are not up to scratch with the key literacy and numeracy skills sought by business today.
Far from it. The 16-24 age group is being very well-supported and encouraged to gain the right skillsets and attitude for the world of employment.
Post-16 education is at the forefront of the Welsh Government’s determination to ensure young people meet the needs of the workplace, now and in the future. It is also important to remember that there is a great deal of support available for business in Wales to train, develop and upskill their young employees to make them better prepared and able to adapt to advances at work.
The introduction of digital literacy learning in schools will prove to be hugely beneficial to business and there are a number of other key initiatives introduced for the 16-24 age group by the Welsh Government to ensure we don’t end up with a lost generation – including a major emphasis on apprenticeships designed to develop young people quickly once they have entered the workplace.
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