Lifelong Learning Reforming Education for an Age of Technological and Demographic Change 2 Lifelong Learning

IoD Policy Report March 2016 Lifelong Learning Reforming education for an age of technological and demographic change 2 Lifelong Learning Author Seamus is head of employment and skills policy. He is a member of the government’s National Living Wage advisory group, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills’ Teaching Excellence Framework advisory, the Business Enterprise Reference Group at Ofsted, the Micro-Social Change (MiSoC) Policy Advisory Group at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Seamus Nevin Commerce (RSA). Seamus has extensive public policy experience. Prior to joining the IoD, Head of he worked in the policy unit of a party in the employment and Northern Ireland Assembly, the public affairs skills policy, IoD division of a major UK third-sector organisation, for a leading international think tank, and for an economic policy research institute operated jointly between the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the University of Oxford. Seamus holds a (Joint Hons) BA International in history, politics and international relations from University College Dublin (UCD) where he was awarded a Parnell Scholarship and won the TD Williams Medal for graduating first place in his class. In addition he holds a diplôme from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po-Paris) and an (Hons) MSc from the LSE. His LSE master’s degree dissertation was published in a scholarly periodical and he has had a number of other academic papers published. Seamus is a regular commentator across radio, print, online and television media.. 3 Executive summary Demographic and technological changes are • Education curricula should be independent transforming the world of work. These changes of political interference and instead informed, inevitably raise concerns about the impact of and continuously re-examined, by an expert this impending revolution on the number of jobs body of providers, businesses, academics and and the future of society. However, the ageing other stakeholders with a focus on delivering workforce and the so-called ‘rise of the robots’ education today for tomorrow’s workplace. do not need to presage the apocalypse that so many are predicting. Guidance Since the first industrial revolution, each wave • The level of careers guidance given to young of economic change has been met with public people is inadequate, with what little there is anxiety. Yet, in the long run, each bout of worry focused on an outdated and static idea of a jobs has proved misplaced. The lesson from these market events is the importance of enabling people to re-skill and upskill in order to succeed in the new • In the UK education system, learner choice is economy. playing an increasingly important role, so it is vital that students have the information they need to As the fourth industrial revolution continues succeed in a rapidly changing labour market. to radically alter the world of work, reforming education and training will be of vital importance. • Stem skills will underpin many of the potential There are four key areas where significant progress high-growth industries in the UK economy, but needs to be made to ensure the UK is prepared to the misperceived importance of higher A-Level succeed in this new economic landscape. grades is turning students towards subjects they will do well in, rather than those that will be Curriculum most valuable in the workplace. • The UK education system began to take shape • In the 21st century, education doesn’t end at in 1858, and featured mass public examinations school and businesses must play their part. based on pupils’ ability to recall information The focus must be on in-work training and and apply standardised methods. This remains providing a career lattice, rather than a career essentially the same way we educate today. ladder, where employees can develop by doing a range of different roles, gaining experience, • The expansion of the internet means the labour developing new skills, and tapping into market no longer rewards workers primarily for alternative networks. what they know, but for what they can do with what they know. • Government must play its part too, bringing together industry-wide collaboration between • UK education policy is at risk of turning our businesses and employers, ensuring every school schools into ‘exam factories’ still teaching has a suitably qualified, dedicated full-time careers method and recall, the easiest skills to automate. coach whose job is to provide independent careers education and guidance and to co- • Schools must refocus on the application of ordinate employer engagement for students. knowledge rather than simply the acquisition of it, to boost the level of soft skills in future • Multiple, high-quality work experiences should generations. become compulsory for all students from the age of 13 onwards so that young people can learn from • A welcome emphasis on coding and increased employers and be better informed and equipped to emphasis on Stem subjects will provide make the right choices to help achieve their future stronger foundations for the digital revolution, career aspirations but teaching new technologies using old approaches is no longer suitable. 4 Lifelong Learning Provision Finance • Automation and digital technology offer • On-the-job training and e-learning offer part of new routes for the provision of education via the solution but finance is also key. computer-based outlets. • Affordability and limited credit options are the • Distance education is nothing new but recent biggest barriers to workers enrolling on part- innovations in ‘Massive Open Online Courses’ time or further education. (Moocs) enable independent vocational learning more conveniently and cheaply than ever before. • Lifelong learning has a key role to play in boosting productivity, contributing to • The cost savings, convenience, and flexibility economic growth and aiding social mobility. that online learning offers has the potential For these reasons, financial incentives to to revolutionise education provision, but only facilitate continuous engagement in education if businesses and the education sector work throughout a person’s life should be explored by together to capitalise on the potential of government. computer-based teaching applications to support employees in their pursuit of lifelong learning. • The relevant government departments should work together to facilitate lifelong learning. The • In this self-guided environment, students and value of tax incentives can provide a worthwhile workers will become central in regulating their ‘nudge’ towards the enhanced uptake of lifelong learning and determining the development learning opportunities. of their own skills, meaning that one of the core functions of 21st-century schools will be • An enhanced tax deduction for employers would teaching students how to learn for themselves. encourage them to invest in training their staff. • In a world of online media, which can become • The income tax system should therefore be an echo chamber of one’s existing opinions flexed to encourage and enable individual and interests, digital skills will need to be learners to upskill throughout their working lives. complemented by the development of critical analysis, evaluation skills and self-regulation. The fourth industrial revolution will bring significant challenges, but also huge • This will be vital as global credit transfer systems opportunities. If the UK is to build a competitive develop that will allow student consumers to economy for the 21st century, a shift to lifelong use courses offered by one institution (both learning will be crucial to ensuring that UK online and in-house) to count towards their workers have the skills they need to succeed in qualification from another, and to build up the new world of work. gradually to a degree at different times rather than completing it all in one go. • Rather than thinking of progress as a linear measure through the curriculum, the breadth of development will also be important. • The government should use the new higher education Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) to incentivise education providers to expand their provision of computer-based and blended learning opportunities to enhance access to education, reduce the costs of provision, and capitalise on a growing demand for alternative learning opportunities. 5 Foreword Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian Prime Minister, is crucial. Our members, the majority of whom recently said that “there has never been a lead SMEs, consistently cite a skills shortage as a more exciting time to be alive”. We’re used to significant factor. Among our younger members, Australian optimism putting a sunny spin on the start-up-focused IoD 99, skills came out things, but on this, he’s right. as the number-one issue that entrepreneurs are grappling with. Indeed, while in 2014 we The world is going through twin revolutions; climbed to be the fourth-most entrepreneurial digital and entrepreneurial. Nowhere are these nation on the planet according to the Global twin revolutions more keenly felt than in Britain. Entrepreneurship Monitor, it was noticeable that This year, 12.4 per cent of our GDP will come in that survey we were ranked behind Russia and from the digital economy, streets ahead of our Greece when it came to skills and human capital4. Jimmy nearest competitor1. In 2015, almost 600,000 McLoughlin businesses

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