The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., is committed to ensuring that the country continues to provide the necessary quality and quantity of skilled people to attract, retain and grow job opportunities and investment.
As part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014 published today, the Department of Education and Skills (DES) will focus on addressing the training and education needs of the unemployed in order to be able to get back to work, alongside providing targeted responses to meeting the country’s skills needs both now and in the future.
The DES plays a central role under the Action Plan for Jobs 2014 in delivering the relevant education and training to assist the unemployed in entering the workforce and upskilling others to take up high quality positions.
Minister Quinn said, “The Action Plan for Jobs is a whole of Government approach to tackling the most pressing issue facing this country – unemployment.”
“The employment market is rapidly changing and we need to ensure that our people have the right skills for the right jobs. In the education and training sector, we have to have a responsive system that can identify the skills needs of industry and provide targeted higher and further education and training opportunities to give unemployed people and young people in particular the relevant skills and confidence they need to secure high quality, attractive jobs.”
“The continuation of successful programmes such as Springboard, Momentum and the ICT Skills Conversion courses will enable thousands of jobseekers to obtain these skills and ultimately get these jobs.”
Some of the actions which the DES is responsible for under the APJ 2014 include:
· Develop for the first time a co-ordinated strategy for further education and training in Ireland under the auspices of SOLAS
· Roll out a further 6,000 places for the unemployed through Momentum, including 2,000 places for the under 25s
· Issue a further call for proposals for Springboard and ICT Skills Conversion courses
· Publish an ICT Action Plan 2014 in conjunction with industry and DJEI
· Modernise the apprenticeship system to bring about a greater focus on work-based learning and engagement with employers
· Updating the curriculum at second level so that school leavers are equipped with core skills and competences of relevance to the world of work
· Develop and publish a languages education strategy, including foreign language education
· Support SMEs through the development of a two-day training programme by Skillnets to enhance financial capabilities in the sector.
Minister Quinn concluded, “By working together – Government, industry, education providers and jobseekers themselves – we can tackle unemployment. In this Year of Jobs, I and the Department are committed to doing everything we can to ensure as many people as possible get back to work.”