North Kildare Chamber today (15/09/2016) welcomed the commitment to addressing skills needs and further education and training in the publication of the Department of Education and Skills (DES) Strategy Statement. CEO of the Chamber Allan Shine was recently appointed onto the Mid-East Regional Skills Forum which has members that include IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Social Protection.
Shine said today, “ The delivery of this strategy is crucial, areas where there is significant ground to make up include the achievement levels in science, take-up of gateway subjects and the availability of apprenticeships and traineeships in emerging areas of skills. We particularly welcome the commitment to increase by a quarter the number of students undertaking a work placement or work project as part of their third level qualification by 2021. Business and the Chamber have been calling for this over the past number of years.
The Chamber are looking forward to the publication of a detailed implementation plan for Apprenticeships and Traineeships which is promised in this strategy. We now call on Government to actively support this plan and secure the investment required to deliver on this vital priority for the future.”
The Action Plan for Education can be downloaded at: http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Corporate-Reports/Strategy-Statement/Department-of-Education-and-Skills-Strategy-Statement-2016-2019.pdf