Industry News
Schools 'failing to teach basic skills'
Posted on 13th September 2007
The economy is weakened by a lack of skills in school leavers, it has been claimed.
Chief executive of Tesco Sir Terry Leahy said training on-the-job was a "sticking plaster" to cover the failure in teaching reading, writing and maths skills.
He made his comments to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and pledged to improve training possibilities for Tesco's 280,000 workers.
Businesses need skilled people to carry out work, but a lack of abilities also represents "a terrible waste of potential, limiting social mobility and reducing opportunity", he said.
Sir Terry made his comments following the publication of figures which showed last year around 147,000 pupils failed to gain any GCSEs higher than a D.
A survey by the CBI and Pertemps recently found around half of employers were dissatisfied with the literacy and numeracy of school leavers, leaving many teenagers "unable to function" in the workplace.