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Over four in ten companies are now running remedial training in core subjects because young recruits have not reached the required standard before leaving school, CBI research has found.The survey of over 500 firms found that 42 per cent had organised lessons in basic subjects such as literacy, numeracy and IT. Computer skills were the most common area covered, although a fifth of employers had run classes in reading, writing and maths. Over a third of organisations in the survey said the education system was at fault for failing to prepare youngsters for the workplace, with poor English more likely to be a cause for complaint than maths skills.Over six in ten also expressed dissatisfaction with school leavers’ wider employability skills, such as time management, attitude, and ability to organise themselves at work. The report argued that basic skills should be taught at primary school level so that secondary schools could focus more on imparting employability skills to teenagers."The foundations for the development of higher-level skills and the essentials for working life, that employers require, are laid at school,” said John Cridland, CBI director-general."With the right start at school our young people can go on to have successful and fulfilling careers and have a strong base from which to learn more at college, university, or in the workplace. "But levels of educational attainment are rising fast in many leading and emerging economies, so in the UK we must ensure that our education and skills system can continue to compete at the cutting edge." The CBI survey was carried out together with Pearson Education.
I absolutely agree. The tragic fact is that many young people are entering the workplace unaware of the behaviours appropriate to create the right impresssion. I have been working with companies to ensure that apprentices gain employability skills to enable them to make a positive contribution to their workplace.
Why is it such a surprise that the skills sets of our school children are so poor. This has been the subject of some debate for the past 10 years, since the decline of discipline and common sense teaching methods in our our schools. We should learn from our Finnish counterparts who have developed a world class education system. Although their children don't start school until the age of 7, they concentrate on learning the basics of reading, writing and maths at junior school. They then build on their more rounded academic knowledge in secondary school, producing excellent results. If only our out-of-touch Government would see things in such a clear, common sense way. NG
Sad but true.<br/>I've had to run training sessions for staff in various companies - many of whom were graduates BTW!! - where we taught them how to write letters & emails, improved their general maths skills and so on.<br/>I nearly fell through the floor when I was told by one of the delegates that they'd received a very good degree in English and Modern Languages, since said delegate was unable to compose a simple sentence in english that was grammatically correct and wasn't full of basic spelling mistakes!<br/>And don't get me started on the lack of basic organisational and people skills that we see in so many joining the workforce today......!!!
Have your say... This surely can't be true?<br/>I listened to the teachers and their unions a little while ago telling us what a super job they are doing under very difficult circumstances and how they actually needed more holidays to recover from this.<br/>Is this about the emperors new clothes?<br/>Teachers really should spend at least a few years in industry to get a feel for the real world and what it is like out here.