At NIACE we are setting an agenda for lifelong learning for the next Parliament and succeeding in getting cross-party support for this.  We are not doing this for the hell of it.  We are not doing this because of vapid objectives on the fun side of adult education alone – a common criticism of post compulsory education and training from within local government. 

We are doing it because it is both economically and socially essential for the UK.

What makes this essential? Sustaining the UK’s economic recovery and building long-term prosperity depends on having a skills base that matches the needs of a modern knowledge economy.

One-fifth of our economic growth in the last 20 years has been driven by skills. Yet, despite improvements in recent years, the UK still lags behind many other countries. Out of 34 countries in the OECD the UK is:
 

• 15th for literacy and 17th for numeracy with nearly one in five adults lacking these skills;
• 9th for low skills, with one in five adults lacking GCSE equivalent qualifications;
• 24th for intermediate skills, equivalent to A Levels; and
• 11th for high skills (degree level).