Every worker should be issued with a "credit card" by the Government which would allow them to avail of free education and training courses.
The proposal comes from Mr Michael Barry, senior lecturer in industrial relations and sociology at the National College of Ireland. It should provide food for thought to the Government and to delegates gathering this week for the ICTU biennial conference in Killarney.
"The Government may not be able to guarantee a job for life any more," Mr Barry said, but it should be guaranteeing them the opportunity for "lifelong learning". Writing in the latest issue of IMPACT News, the monthly magazine of Ireland's largest public service union, he said: "Investors are paying more and more attention to the quality of labour on offer when they choose where to invest. And while governments are moving in the right direction, they need to be far more radical.
"Similarly, workers and trade unions need to rethink their own situation and priorities." Trade unions should build the demand for a training credit card into future partnership deals, because a better-educated workforce was of more value to both the State and employers.
Mr Barry continued: "In the modern economy, individuals need to attain the highest possible level of education and training in fields where there is a high demand for labour. And they have to be flexible, able to shift from one occupational field to another as demand changes. There are two concepts that could help them do this: second-chance education and lifelong learning.
"Second-chance learning is important for many people who don't progress to third-level education when they are young. And the figures show that there is an issue of social justice because, without a second chance, the less well-off are stuck in an uncompetitive position in the labour market.
"The idea of lifelong learning is also important to trade unions and their members. We can no longer rely on our initial choice of occupation to see us through to retirement. These days we face the possibility of a number of career changes during our working lives. That means we may need to return to education and training a number of times before we retire."
The Irish education system, he wrote, was "geared almost exclusively to the needs of teenage school-leavers. In Britain mature students account for almost 40 per cent of students. In Ireland the proportion is just 5 per cent."