Industry News
'Teaching needs to meet the needs of a changing world'
Posted on 26th July 2007
Schools should be providing young people with the skills and knowledge needed to embark upon careers in an ever-changing world, a member of the Northern Ireland assembly has claimed.
Education minister Caitriona Ruane said that schools ought to produce "creative and articulate" young people and teaching should be geared towards the requirements of the global business community, the Newsletter reports.
To meet these business needs, standards in literacy and numeracy need to be improved, while a broad range of subjects must be offered to pupils, Ms Ruane argued.
"By working together, the education and business communities can make a real difference to the prospects for our young people, their local community and our wider economy," she remarked.
Earlier this week, a number of businesses, including British Gas and RWE npower, announced their support for the government's new engineering diploma.
Mike Evans, director of engineering at RWE npower, said that the new qualification is a "fantastic" way of combining both academic and applied learning.