Welfare Reform on the Web (February 2001): Education - UK - Training
200 COLLEGES WILL BECOME HI-TECH TRAINING CENTRES
B. Russell
Independent, Nov. 21st 2000, p. 10
Reports government plans to upgrade more than half of Englands 4.38 further education colleges to become national centres of excellence in vocational and industrial education over the next four years.
(See also Guardian, Nov. 21st 2000, p. 7)
OVER-16 SKILLS GET EXTRA £600M
R. Smithers
Guardian, Nov. 10th 2000, p. 13 & 23
Reports that the budget for the new Learning and Skills Council has been raised by £600m to £5.5bn in financial year 2001/02 to boost investment in vocational training for teenagers.
SKILLS COUNCIL TARGETS ADULT ILLITERACY
J. Kelly
Financial Times, Dec. 11th 2000, p. 6
The new business-led Learning and Skills Council will spend more than £2.5bn in 2000/01 on funding 625,000 extra places in adult education. It will focus on improving basic literacy and numeracy skills using internet access points in the workplace, libraries and other public areas. It aims to have 500,000 people taking tuition by 2002, cutting those with weak skills by 750,000 by 2004.
SKILLS FOR LIFE: THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING ADULT LITERACY AND NUMERACY SKILLS
Department for Education and Employment
Nottingham: DfEE Publications, 2000
Consultation paper proposes a comprehensive national strategy for raising basic literacy and numeracy skills. In pilot areas applicants for state benefits would be screened for basic skills, and those who failed to even try to learn would lose payments. Other proposed measures include family literacy programmes, special projects in inner city areas and workplace training.