From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
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Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, has today (Thursday, 3 March 2022) met with EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights , Nicolas Schmit.
The minister and Commissioner Schmit discussed Ireland’s approach to the skills challenges facing the country and the European Union, including digital literacy challenges and access to lifelong learning opportunities. The minister and the commissioner visited Clondalkin Youthreach Centre.
Clondalkin Youthreach Centre is part of a national programme of second-chance education and training. It aims to provide early school-leavers with the knowledge, skills and confidence required to participate fully in society and progress to further education, training and employment. It provides a range of educational programmes in a positive, supportive and inclusive environment. Youthreach is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Social Fund .
Minister Harris said:
“Skills must be seen as an investment, at the centre of Ireland’s wider enterprise and innovation approach. Ireland has a long standing partnership approach, with enterprise and the education and training system, ensuring a robust skills ecosystem. We know that skills and talent is one of the key challenges facing us.
“Under the EU Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, we have committed to a target of 64% of working-age adults participating in training each year by 2030. We need to do better at learning through our whole lifecycle, and particularly, we need to do better at enabling those furthest behind or outside of lifelong learning.
“Key skills focus areas for my department have included: overhauling the apprenticeship system, working towards a more unified tertiary system, shaping a more sustainable approach to higher education funding, launching a 10-year Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy, and establishing technological universities, as anchors of regional growth and innovation.
>“I was really pleased to share our experiences with the commissioner and work with him to address these issues as a whole.”
Commissioner Schmit added:
“I commend Ireland for setting an ambitious target of 64% of its adult population to participate in training each year. The EU’s labour market is going through huge changes: only by insisting on lifelong learning will we meet the new demands and close the current skills gaps. I was honoured to join Minister Harris for a tour of the Clondalkin YouthReach Centre which is co-funded by the EU. YouthReach has helped countless young people in Ireland who didn’t have any qualifications to develop their skills – both academic and social – and progress to further education or employment.”
The minister updated the commissioner on the recently-launched Harnessing Digital strategy and welcomed the EU’s 2022 Structured Dialogue on Digital Education and Skills .
The minister added:
“Digital skills are transversal skills, and are often the avenue to accessing other transversal skills. Improving the proportion of the population with basic digital skills is intrinsically linked to improving participation in lifelong learning. Digitalisation will impact all roles, occupations and sectors.”