State education system 'must adapt'

Citation

(1999), "State education system 'must adapt'", Education + Training, Vol. 41 No. 9. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.1999.00441iab.011

State education system 'must adapt'

Keywords Education, Learning, Vocational training

The development of the state education system is vital if the UK is to play an active role in the global economy of the next century according to Globalization and the Knowledge Society, a report by the Management Consultancies Association. It predicts that changes in company structures, the nature of work, the relationships between employee and the firm and greater flexibility in work patterns will all result in the need for a new type of worker. The education system will therefore have to adapt significantly if it is to support this and meet the demands of an economy where knowledge equals power. Additionally, as the idea of a job for life becomes increasingly alien to this new generation of workers, the concept of lifelong learning, to ensure that workers have a constantly-updated portfolio of skills, will become more important.

One contributor to the book, Paul Heald, of management consultancy Arthur D. Little, says: "There will be pressure on the state and schooling institutions to offer up much more useful skills - things like communication skills, analytical skills, presentation skills and computer skills". Another contributor, Paul Thornton, of The French Thornton Partnership, adds: "If we think about people doing multiple careers and changing jobs ... we are going to need people turned out in education with many more personal aptitudes as well as interpersonal skills and the ability to work in teams. The current generation of teachers is not equipped to teach that." The report identifies the division between academic and vocational education as another problem that needs to be overcome, with greater importance placed on education that is directly valuable in the workplace.