Economic success depends on better education

Much more investment in education is necessary if Ireland is to continue to be economically successful, according to the IDA …

Much more investment in education is necessary if Ireland is to continue to be economically successful, according to the IDA chief executive, Mr Kieran McGowan. Mr McGowan has singled out software, electronics and health care as areas that will suffer from skill shortages unless more places are created in education.

Ireland's dependence on the education, qualifications and skills of its workforce is increasing more rapidly than most people expected, he told an IBEC conference in Cork.

While the extra £5 million to increase the number of computer technicians and software graduates announced by the Government in July was very welcome, significantly more follow-up investment would be needed.

"A lot more is required if we are to be as successful in the new high tech/high skills arena as we have been on the way towards getting there," he said.

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"The level of skills in the labour force is our only long-term sustainable advantage," he said. "Incentives and grants are no longer the issue, as these are being matched or beaten by other countries."

Mr McGowan called for more investment in labour skills, more initiatives between colleges and companies, more in-company training to improve workforce skills, more support for RTCs and PLCs from parents and young people, more support for teachers, more awareness by parents and career guidance teachers of where the jobs are, and closer relationships between companies and the education sector.

Asked what young people should study in order to get jobs, Mr McGowan replied that in RTCs they should opt for certificates in such areas as medicine, engineering, electronics and computer science. At universities, students should opt for computer science and languages. Officially opening the one-day conference at UCC on perspectives, needs and developments in Ireland's south-west region, the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, pledged that close co-operation would develop between education and industry.

He recognised that the system had to respond quickly and professionally to new labour market needs.

The Minister said the EU Agenda 2000 document highlighted education as the principal strategic investment to enable young people to develop their potential and participate fully in the development of society.

The Government planned to ensure that every child attending school had the opportunity to develop full computer literacy.

"My objective is to support and promote close interaction and continuous communication between education providers and industry to deepen mutual understanding and facilitate timely reaction to emerging needs," the Minister said.

The professor of education at UCC, Ms Aine Hyland, said Government expenditure on education in Ireland was about 4 per cent of GNP in the early 1960s. Now it was in the region of 8 per cent of a much larger GNP.

The EU White Paper on Education and Training had stressed that a special effort had to be made for the most vulnerable sectors of the population, particularly in urban areas hardest hit by unemployment.