Invitation for Submissions on the development of a new National Skills Strategy

Transcription

1 Ivitatio for Submissios o the developmet of a ew Natioal Skills Strategy

2 Purpose of this cosultatio To explore the stregths ad challeges facig Irelad s skills system We are developig a ew Natioal Skills Strategy for the period 2015 to As part of this process we are also reviewig implemetatio of the Tomorrow s Skills, Towards a Natioal Skills Strategy, published i Objectives of the cosultatio: Geerate isights ito Irelad s curret skills system for use i the developmet of a ew atioal skills strategy Esure a wide rage of stakeholder participatio ad perspectives are cosidered ad provide the basis for priorities ad actios i the ew strategy To explore, with a rage of stakeholders, the future skills eeds of eterprise ad to support wider ecoomic ad social developmet 2 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 3

3 Why is the cosultatio happeig ow? Beefits of ivestig i educatio & skills developmet The Departmet of Educatio ad Skills has committed i the Actio Pla for Jobs 2015 to develop a ew Natioal Skills Strategy i A key elemet of the Govermet s strategy for ecoomic ad social developmet is to esure that we have the right skills to attract, retai ad grow job opportuities, ivestmet ad ecoomic growth. The ew Natioal Skills Strategy is beig developed i the cotext of sigificat reform i the educatio ad traiig sector to esure a more dyamic, resposive ad high quality system that provides all learers with the kowledge ad skills they eed to participate fully i society ad the ecoomy. The availability ad use of skills is impacted by a rage of issues icludig ecoomic performace, growth & declie i particular sectors, ivestmet, demographic chage, chages i the skills required for particular occupatios, mismatches betwee the supply ad demad for skills ad the level of uused skills due to people ot participatig i the labour market. This chagig ad dyamic eviromet meas that skills requiremets of the ecoomy are cotiually chagig ad the developmet of a skills strategy will esure a coheret respose to future skills eeds. It is ow timely to review progress o the implemetatio of Tomorrow s Skills, Towards a Natioal Skills Strategy, published i 2007 ad set out a ew strategy for the period to Beefits for idividuals Studies show that havig skills relevat to the labour market sigificatly icrease a idividual s chace of beig employed ad i a good quality job. Highly-skilled idividuals are also more likely to ear higher wages. Idividuals eed access to relevat educatio ad traiig ad to appropriate experiece i the workplace to become highly skilled. The recet Irish experiece durig the recessio shows that people with lower levels of educatioal attaimet ad less experiece of the workplace experieced the highest levels of uemploymet. I terms of well-beig ad social participatio, OECD data shows that higher Educatioal attaimet levels are also associated with higher well-beig outcomes i terms of jobs & earigs, social coectios ad subjective well-beig. Beefits for society People with higher educatioal attaimet ejoy stroger social etworks ad live i safer, more coected commuities. Data from the OECD Survey of Adult Skills shows that idividuals with better literacy levels are more likely to report good health, to believe that they have a impact o political processes, ad to participate i associative or voluteer activities. Also life expectacy, subjective well-beig as well as civic ad political egagemet icrease with educatio 1. Beefits for the ecoomy Now more tha ever before we see that the well-beig of coutries depeds o the skills of their people. Havig a workforce that has high quality skills that are relevat to the labour market cotributes to productivity ad iovatio ad is a importat factor i attractig multiatioal compaies to Irelad. For some roles, it is possible to defie very specific etry level requiremets but as global ad techological drivers of chage impact o eterprises, roles will keep evolvig, ew career paths eed to be defied ad eterprises ad idividuals will eed to cotiuously ivest i skills developmet.. 1 How's Life? 2013: Measurig Well-beig, OECD Publishig, Paris. 4 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 5

4 TOMORROW S SKILLS, TOWARDS A NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY SET OUT A VISION OF IRELAND IN 2020 IN WHICH A WELL EDUCATED AND HIGHLY SKILLED POPULATION CONTRIBUTES OPTIMALLY TO A COMPETITIVE, INNOVATION-DRIVEN, KNOWLEDGE-BASED, PARTICIPATIVE AND INCLUSIVE ECONOMY. Summary of Irelad s progress o implemetig the curret skills strategy Tomorrow's Skills: Towards a Natioal Skills Strategy was published i 2007 ad icluded the followig key targets to be achieved by 2020: 48 per cet of the labour force should have qualificatios at Natioal Framework of Qualificatios (NFQ) levels 6-10 i.e. from higher/advaced certificate to PhD level 45 per cet should have qualificatios at NFQ levels 4 ad 5 Awards equivalet to higher secodary level educatio ad The remaiig 7 per cet are likely to have qualificatios at NFQ levels 1 to 3 (equivalet or below Juior Certificate) while aimig to make the trasitio to higher levels of educatioal attaimet 94 per cet of populatio should have at least NFQ levels 4/5 The retetio rate at Leavig Certificate should reach 90% by 2020 The progressio rate to Third Level should icrease to 72% The followig actios were idetified i the strategy to achieve the targets: 500,000 idividuals i the workforce to progress by at least oe NFQ level, to iclude: Upskillig of 70,000 persos from NFQ levels 1&2 to level 3; 260,000 persos up to levels 4&5; 170,000 persos up to levels 6 to 10. The strategy PROPOSED a Oe-Step-Up Approach with specific targetig of: Low skilled ad educatioally disadvataged Itegratio of migrat workers Prioritisatio of basic skills i educatio ad traiig programmes as far as possible Itegrated Govermet Policy 6 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 7

5 Progress toward the Key Natioal Skills Strategy Targets for 2020 Target 48% 45% 7% of Labour Force at levels 6-10 of Labour Force at levels 4-5 will be at levels % of ages achievig NFQ Levels 4/5 or more 90% 72% retetio rate at Leavig Certificate progressio rate to Third Level Natioal Skills Strategy Baselie Curret Positio Progess Number of persos 33% 44% +11% +264,000 40% 38% -2% +3,500 27% 15% +12% -220,000 86% 93% +7% 81% 90.6% +9.6% 55% 69% +14% [1] NFQ Profile of the Labour Force Targets are measured from a baselie year of Q The 94 per cet target for year olds is from a baselie year of 2005 The retetio rate target is from a baselie year of 1996 The progressio rate target is from a baselie year of 2004 [2] Excludes idividuals who did ot state their level of educatioal attaimet [3] Excludes iteratioal studets, ecompasses ew etrats of all ages (i.e. icludes mature studets) Source: Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Progress toward the Key Natioal Skills Strategy Targets for 2020 May of the targets set i the last Natioal Skills Strategy relate to progressio up the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios (NFQ). The may differet types of qualificatios icluded i the NFQ are orgaised based o their level of kowledge, skill ad competece. Examples of qualificatios o the Framework iclude the Juior Certificate at Level 3, the Leavig Certificate at Levels 4 & 5, ad a Hoours Bachelor Degree at Level 8. Overall, strog progress has bee made towards the key targets set out i the last Natioal Skills Strategy. Retetio to completio of seior cycle i secod level schools has icreased sigificatly, from 81% to 90.6%, exceedig the 90% target set for % of people aged achieved NFQ Levels 4-5 or more i 2014, a icrease of 7% o the baselie year of 2005 ad just 1% short of the target for The progressio rate to Third Level has icreased by 14%, from 55% to 69%, while there has bee a 11% icrease i the umber of people i the Labour Force achievig qualificatios at the higher levels of the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios (Levels 6-10), with 264,000 extra people holdig a qualificatio at this Level. However, slower progress has bee made towards the target for people i the Labour Force holdig qualificatios at Levels 4-5. I additio, there remais a sigificat cohort of the Labour Force with qualificatios at the lowest levels of the NFQ. The aim of the last Strategy was to reduce the percetage of people i the Labour Force with qualificatios at Levels 1-3 from 27% to 7% by While some progress has bee made towards this target, 15% of the Labour Force cotiue to hold qualificatios at Levels NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 9

6 Cotext for the developmet of a ew skills strategy This sectio of the cosultatio paper sets out curret Irish policy approaches relevat to the developmet of the ew Natioal Skills Strategy i the areas of Educatio ad Traiig, Labour Market Activatio ad supportig Busiess i Irelad. It also sets out some of the emergig issues i these three policy areas. Irelad s ecoomy has experieced a cosiderable cotractio sice the last Natioal Skills Strategy was published i 2007 ad the recessio had a major egative impact o the labour market. Sice 2012, the labour market has see a substatial recovery as a result of a retur to ecoomic growth. Sice the height of the jobs crisis, the umbers sigig o to the Live Register have falle by almost 112,000 to 337,000. The followig are some recet positive treds: Data from the CSO shows that employmet growth i the recovery has bee of good quality with full-time employmet accoutig for virtually all of the icrease i jobs sice I additio, data suggests the recovery is broadeig with employmet growig i te out of fourtee ecoomic sectors. Ecoomic recovery is also resultig i itesifyig of skills shortages across a umber of areas such as ICT, egieerig, sales/customer care, logistic, health, busiess, fiace. Specific shortages are also emergig i areas such as hospitality (chefs) ad costructio (surveyors ad steel erectors/fixers). As the ecoomic recovery gathers pace, employers will icreasigly experiece difficulty i attractig ad retaiig staff i elemetary occupatios (e.g. hospitality, care, meat processig). However, aalysis of labour market trasitios betwee employmet, uemploymet ad ecoomic iactivity suggests that a segmet of the Irish labour market is associated with trasitory employmet. While this may ot be a issue from a labour market flexibility poit of view, it does pose a challege for securig sustaiable employmet for may idividuals. The Natioal Skills Bulleti, 2015 shows that there is a eed to address the issue of precarious employmet ad career progressio for persos presetly lackig skills to eable them to avail of labour market opportuities elsewhere i the labour market. The uemploymet rate has falle to 9.4%, the lowest rate i five years ad dow from a peak of just over 15% i If curret mometum is sustaied short-term uemploymet could fall back to pre-crisis levels by the ed of The log-term uemploymet rate has also falle to 5.5% i Q2 2015, dow from 9.5% i Q The youth uemploymet rate has falle to 22% i Q dow from 33% i Q There has bee a icrease of 130,000 i the umbers at work. 10 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 11

7 Overview of the Educatio ad Traiig System 1,090,000 full-time learers across the system 67,000+ pre-school childre 916,000 childre ad youg people i schools 360,000+ further educatio ad traiig places 173,000+ full-time studets i higher educatio 38,000+ part-time studets i higher educatio 1/3 of the public sector employed i the educatio ad traiig sector 2015 Budget for the sector (excludig the Natioal Traiig Fud) is 8.6 billio ad represets 16.1% of Govermet spedig Pay / Pesios 6.4 billio (74% of budget) No Pay 1.58 billio (18% of budget) Capital billio (7% of budget) Educatio ad Traiig Sector output There are curretly over 916,000 childre ad youg people i our schools. The school goig populatio is set to icrease over the period to 2026 with a correspodig icrease i demad for places i further educatio ad traiig ad higher educatio over the period of the ew skills strategy ad beyod. There has bee a icrease of over 171,000 i full-time educatio erolmets, across all levels, sice the 2004/05 school year. The umbers of primary school childre are projected to icrease by over 19,000 betwee 2015 ad 2018 before decliig thereafter. The umber of studets i secod level schools are projected to icrease by early 67,000 betwee 2015 ad 2025 before decliig thereafter. The largest icreases will be betwee 2020 ad ,009 schools 16 Educatio ad Traiig Boards 19 regioal traiig cetres 39 State fuded higher educatio istitutios Rage of private providers This icrease i the studet populatio will also icrease demad for further educatio ad traiig ad higher educatio places over the period of the ew skills strategy ad beyod 12 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 13

8 Educatio ad Traiig Sector output Further Educatio ad Traiig It is estimated that there were 282,000 learers i the FET sector i 2013/14. Of these, 194,000 were o further educatio (FE) courses (blue coloured boxes i diagram), either full-time or part-time; a additioal 87,000 were i traiig (yellow/orage boxes) where courses ca broadly be divided ito traiig for learers uder 25 years, traiig for the uemployed ad other traiig. Curretly, the vast majority of places i traiig, except appreticeship, are reserved for uemployed persos referred to traiig by the Departmet of Social Protectio. FET courses aimed at caterig for the eeds of youger age cohorts iclude Post Leavig Certificate, Youthreach, appreticeship ad Commuity Traiig Cetre courses, where the majority of learers ted to be uder 25 years. Educatio & Traiig Sector output Higher Educatio There are curretly over 173,000 full-time studets i higher educatio ad over 38,000 part-time studets. Full-time erolmet i higher educatio has grow by 30% over the past 9 years ad demad for places is expected to icrease by almost 27% by The umber of graduates has icreased by 15% from 2010 to 2014 Uiversity ad College graduates have icreased from 36,851 i 2010 to 41,141 i 2014 Istitute of Techology graduates have icreased from 21,371 i 2010 to 25,514 i 2014 PLC Courses1 34,000 Full Time Youthreach2 3,200 Further Educatio VTOS2 5,600 Back to educatio Iititive2 31,600 GRADUATES IN THE CALENDER YEAR Further Educatio ad Traiig Traiig Part Time Traiig Mostly for Learers < 25 Years Traiig for the uemployed Adult Literacy2 41,600 Commuity Educatio2 53, 100 ESOL2 11,000 Other Youth Provisio, Arts Educatio, Co-operatio Hours3 14,000 Appreticeship (2013 date) Commuity Traiig Cetre3 3,000 Traieeship3 4,700 Specific Skills Traiig3 16,000 Mometum Local Traiig Iititive3 4,500 21,371 22, ,042 24,524 25,514 36,851 37,405 37,604 40,201 41, ecollege3 2,000 Other Traiig for Employmet Eveig/Bleded learig courses3 16,500 Other (bridgig/foudatio, Justice workshops, specialist traiig providers ad refresher courses)3 6,800 Uiversities ad Colleges Istitutes of Techology Traiig i Employmet3 5,400 Source: Moitorig Irelad s Skills Supply 2015, Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Source: Higher Educatio Authority 14 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 15

9 Educatio & Traiig Sector Output Educatio level gaied ad types of graduates Upper secodary or tertiary educatio attaimet How well are we doig? Iteratioal bechmarks show that Irelad is performig well i some areas 2014 data idicates that 74.4% of the populatio betwee 15 ad 64 hold a upper secod level or tertiary educatio. This is slightly above the Europea Uio(28 coutries) average of 72.6% I 2012, 99% of those aged betwee 4 years old ad the startig age of compulsory educatio participated i ECCE compared to the Europea average of 94% Focusig o those aged from 20 to 24, 87.2% of the populatio i this cohort have upper secodary or tertiary educatio compared to the Europea Uio average of 80.4% Tertiary educatio graduates (ISCED 5-6) The compositio of Irelad s graduates is broadly i lie with that of the EU average. Irelad has more graduates i the humaities (3.8 percetage poits) ad sciece, mathematics ad computig (2.7 percetage poits) as a proportio of total tertiary graduates. The EU average umber of graduates is higher i social sciece, busiess ad law (4.9 percetage poits) ad egieerig, maufacturig ad costructio (1.7 percetage poits). 40% 30% Tertiary Graduates as a % of all fields Irelad EU 28 PIRLS 2011 (Readig at primary level, 4th class) Irish studets scored sigificatly above iteratioal average Irish studets were raked 10th out of 45 participatig coutries Studets i oly five coutries performed sigificatly better tha Irish studets TIMSS 2011 (Maths at primary level, 4th class) Irish studets scored sigificatly above the iteratioal average Irelad placed 17th out of 50 participatig coutries 20% 10% 0% Source: Eurostat Educatio Humaities ad art Social sciece, busiess ad law Sciece, mathematics ad computig Egieerig, maufacturig ad costructio Agriculture ad veteriary Health ad welfare Services 16 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 17

10 How well are we doig? PISA 2012 Overall, PISA 2012 showed that relative to other OECD coutries, betwee school differeces i average studet performace are small i Irelad ad so we ca say that Irelad has a relatively more equitable school system PISA 2012: Sciece Irish studets performig very sigificatly above the OECD average The percetage of studets i Irelad performig at the lower levels i sciece is 11.1%, below the OECD average of 17.8% The percetage of studets i Irelad performig at the higher levels i Sciece is 10.8% ad higher tha the OECD average of 8.4% Performace of Irish studets i 2012 sigificatly better tha whe sciece was first tested i 2006 Eurostat data from the EU Labour Force Survey shows that: The proportio of early school leavers i Irelad i 2014 was 6.9%, dow from 13.1% i 2004, ad well below the EU average of 12.8% OECD Educatio at a Glace 2014 showed: How well are we doig? Some iteratioal bechmarks show that Irelad could do better PISA 2012 PISA 2012 shows that there has bee o real improvemet i the performace of Irish studets i mathematics sice 2003 or readig sice 2000 I mathematics, higher achievig studets performed sigificatly below the OECD average. I prit mathematics, Irelad is raked 13th of 34 OECD coutries ad 20th of all 65 coutries However, Irelad has chaged sice 2003 (there has bee a icrease i immigrat studets from 3.5% to 9.6%; ad icrease i SEN studets participatig i PISA from 2% to 4.7%; ad fewer studets leavig school early) PIAAC Adult literacy survey The PIAAC survey shows that i terms of umeracy Irelad s performace is below average with more Irish adults havig low levels of proficiecy at 25% compared to the average of 20% across participatig coutries 49% of year olds i Irelad have attaied tertiary educatio, sigificatly above the OECD average of 40% ad EU average of 37%. Placig us 6th i OECD ad 2d i the EU (Luxembourg are 1st at 50%) 36.3% of Irish adults are performig at the high levels compared to 46.8% o average across participatig coutries 51% of years old have attaied tertiary educatio, compared to a OECD average of 40% ad EU average of 38%. Placig us 4th i the OECD ad 1st i the EU 18 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 19

11 How well are we doig? Progress o reachig EU 2020 literacy targets The EU 2020 bechmarks state that by 2020, the share of 15 year olds with low achievemet (below Level 2 o PISA) i readig, maths ad sciece should be less tha 15% Readig: PISA 2012 shows that, i prit readig, 9.6% of Irish studets perform below Level 2 compared to 18% across the OECD coutries. I digital readig, 9.4% of Irish studets perform below Level 2 compared to the OECD average of 17.6% Maths: PISA 2012 shows that Irelad has 16.9% performig below Level 2 o the overall prit mathematics scale compared to the OECD average of 23%. O computer-based mathematics, 17.9% of Irish studets performed below Level 2 compared to the OECD average of 20%. These scores show we still eed to improve our performace i maths Sciece: 11% of Irish studets are performig below Level 2 o the sciece scale, which is cosiderably lower tha the correspodig OECD average of 17.8% How Well Are We Doig? Global Competitiveess Report The Global Competitiveess Report raks 144 coutries across a umber of differet metrics icludig Higher educatio ad traiig Irelad raks 6th for secodary educatio 5 Irelad raks 36th for iteret access i schools which is the lowest rak for educatioal idicators i the report I terms of quality of the overall educatio system accordig to the Global Competitiveess Report Irelad raks 5th th 24th 36 th Irelad raks 6th for secodary educatio erolmet rate ad 25th for tertiary educatio erolmet rate 6 th 25 th Accordig to the report the quality of math ad sciece educatio raks 24th 15 th Whe assessed for the quality of busiess schools Irelad raks 15th which is oe place behid Hog Kog 20 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 21

12 How Well Are We Doig? Etrepreeurship educatio is importat due to the challeges faced by a globalised ecoomy upo which etrepreeurship ca have a large impact through the promotio of iovatio, employmet geeratio ad social empowermet The Global Etrepreeurship Moitor survey 2014 shows that: How Well Are We Doig? Research has show a positive relatioship betwee lifelog learig (icludig employee traiig) ad reducig skills mis-matches i the ecoomy. However, Irelad does ot have a strog track record. Life Log Learig There is a strog correlatio betwee perceived capability (skills) ad early stage etrepreeurial activity ad suggests that all forms of educatio (formal, iformal,o-formal) are importat i developig etrepreeurial competeces Latest data from Q shows that of the 2.48 millio adults aged betwee 25 ad 64 years i the populatio, almost 181,000 people had egaged i lifelog learig activities i the precedig four weeks; The survey results show that etrepreeurship educatio at basic levels (primary ad secodary school) is rated rather ufavorably i most ecoomies I terms of primary ad secodary educatio Irelad achieved a score of 2.09 compared to the Europea Uio average of 2.12 The lifelog learig participatio rate was 7.3% compared to a EU average of 10.5%; the gap was widest for employed persos, with Irelad s rate at 6.2% compared to EU average of 11.4%. I cotrast, at 10.7%, it was above the EU average of 7.7% for the ecoomically iactive; Irish post-secodary educatio scored 2.95 which was above the Europea Uio average of 2.8 The gap betwee Irelad s lifelog learig participatio rate ad the EU average has icreased sice 2009; Withi the Europea Uio Demark scored the highest for both primary & secodary ad post secodary with scores 3.10 ad 3.43 respectively Lifelog learig participatio teds to declie with age; The higher the educatio attaimet level, the more likely adults are to participate i lifelog learig. 3 Etrepreeurship Framework - Mai Educatio Idicators Educatio - Primary & Secodary Educatio - Post-Secodary Irelad Europea Uio Average Source: GEM NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 23

13 Educatio ad Traiig: Iitiatives already uderway Early Childhood Educatio: Aistear (The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework) sets out four themes Explorig ad Thikig, Wellbeig, Idetity ad Belogig ad Commuicatig that are all see as cotributig to developig competet ad cofidet learers. There is a sigificat programme of reform uderway across the Educatio ad Traiig sector ad a rage of iitiatives are relevat to the developmet of the ew Natioal Skills Strategy icludig curriculum reform i the schools system, implemetatio of the Further Educatio Strategy ad the Higher Educatio Strategy. The reform programme recogises the importace of all levels of educatio ad traiig as itegral elemets of a framework for lifelog learig. Reforms cetre aroud four key goals of promotig Learig for Life, Improvig Quality ad Accoutability, Supportig Iclusio ad Diversity ad Buildig the Right Systems & Ifrastructure: Learig for Life I lie with most other OECD coutries Irelad is adoptig a skills based approach to teachig ad learig across the etire curriculum from early childhood to post-primary educatio. This icludes: Primary Curriculum: A strog emphasis is placed o developig the ability to questio, to aalyse, to ivestigate, to thik critically, to solve problems, ad to iteract effectively with others. Juior Cycle: The ew Juior Cycle is desiged to promote, amogst other thigs, creativity ad iovatio. It will support learers i learig how to lear, ad i takig resposibility for their ow learig. Eight key skills will be embedded across all learig withi the ew Juior Cycle. These are Maagig Myself, Stayig Well, Maagig Iformatio ad Thikig, Beig Creative, Workig with Others, Commuicatig, Beig Literate, & Beig Numerate. Seior Cycle: The five key skills for seior cycle are Beig Persoally Effective, Commuicatig, Critical ad Creative Thikig, Iformatio Processig ad Workig with others. Implemetatio of the Literacy ad Numeracy Strategy to 2020: The Strategy provides for icreasig the amout of time to be spet o readig, writig ad mathematics i primary schools, chagig the school curriculum, developig digital literacy ad chagig how teachers are educated, with specific targets to be achieved by A ew mathematics curriculum has bee fully implemeted i all postprimary schools. Digital Strategy for Schools: A ew five year strategy has recetly bee published ad cotais a rage of measures to further embed the use of ICT i teachig ad learig i primary ad secod level schools. 24 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 25

14 Foreig laguages: A ew Foreig Laguages i Educatio Strategy which covers post-primary, further ad higher educatio is uder preparatio for publicatio i Reform of the Leavig Certificate grades ad CAO poits system: Sigificat chages are uderway to improve trasitios ad remove barriers to progressio betwee the levels of the educatio system, icludig a ew gradig system for the Leavig Certificate; a revised commo poits scale for etry ito higher educatio ad broader udergraduate etry ito higher educatio. Reforms i Further Educatio ad Traiig: A five year Further Educatio ad Traiig Strategy ad related implemetatio pla was published i 2014 which idetifies key objectives ad targets for the sector ad a ew fudig model based o performace levels is beig implemeted through the agreemet of aual Service Plas with the Educatio ad Traiig Boards (ETBs) & SOLAS. Reform i Higher Educatio A major reform programme is beig implemeted to improve the quality of the experiece of studets, to improve the quality of the outcomes from the system ad to ehace accoutability ad the efficiet use of resources. This icludes the implemetatio of a Systems Performace Framework for higher educatio istitutios which sets out for the first time atioal objectives i seve key areas icludig huma capital developmet, teachig ad learig ad research. These objectives uderpi a ew strategic dialogue process betwee the Higher Educatio Authority ad higher educatio istitutios, the agreemet of performace compacts ad the itroductio of performace fudig. Particularly relevat iitiatives i the higher educatio sector iclude: A ICT Actio Pla is beig implemeted to icrease the supply of graduates with ICT skills ad icludes actios to icrease the umber of places o maistream level 8 degree programmes as well as oe year full-time ICT coversio courses. The Higher Educatio Authority (HEA) published a Eterprise Egagemet Strategy earlier this year to uderpi the further developmet of ew educatio-eterprise parterships, embed regioal developmet ad iovatio, cultivate etrepreeurial approaches ad to support Irelad i becomig a global leader for talet developmet. Reform of the Appreticeship system is uderway with ew stadards ad curricula are beig developed ad rolled out for existig appreticeships i I additio, a call for proposals from employers ad educatio ad traiig providers for the developmet of appreticeship programmes i ew areas was udertake by the recetly established Appreticeship Coucil. The respose to the call was very strog ad a rage of proposals have bee approved for developmet. SOLAS is also leadig o the developmet of a Workforce Developmet Policy ad Strategy to address the challeges of up-skillig i the wider workforce ad this will be iformed by the ew Natioal Skills Strategy. Improvig Quality ad Accoutability Early Childhood Care ad Educatio: The Departmet of Educatio ad Skills (DES) is workig closely with the Departmet of Childre ad Youth Affairs o quality improvemet withi the early-years sector. Better Start the ewly established quality support service for the sector will deploy a team of early year s specialists as metors/advisers workig with early-years services o quality improvemet. A early years ispectio uit has bee established as part of the DES Ispectorate to carry out focussed ispectios o the quality of educatioal provisio i early childhood settigs. DES are carryig out a review of educatio ad traiig programmes that lead to qualificatios i early years care ad educatio. 26 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 27

15 Developig all teachers as professioals: 28 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY As part of the ogoig progressio towards a fully regulated teachig body withi the framework of the Teachig Coucil Acts chages have bee made to the cotet ad pedagogical approaches icluded i Iitial Teacher Educatio (ITE) programmes to prepare teachers better for the classroom ad a umber of ITE programmes for the Further Educatio ad Traiig sector have bee accredited. Self Evaluatio i schools: The ew self-evaluatio model for all primary ad post-primary schools cotiues to be rolled out. The ew self-evaluatio model articulates a clear set of stadards for schools ad focuses o outcomes for the learer, the objective of which is to eable school improvemet. New Ispectio Models i schools: The roll out of a ew rage of ispectio models for all schools will cotiue i These ew ispectio models icrease the efficiecy ad effectiveess of ispectio ad they support the targetig of resources where the eed for assistace ad support is greatest. Further Educatio ad Traiig: Some iitial work will also be udertake by SOLAS i 2015 o profilig the skills base i ETBs to iform the developmet of a CPD Strategy for ETB staff ivolved i the delivery of further educatio ad traiig programmes. Higher Educatio: I 2015, the Natioal Forum for the Ehacemet of Teachig ad Learig is workig o the itroductio of a professioal developmet framework for teachers i higher educatio which will drive iitiatives i the areas of academic professioal developmet ad flexible provisio. I additio a roadmap for the itegratio of techology i teachig i higher educatio has recetly bee developed. A ew Strategy for Sciece, Techology ad Iovatio is beig developed ad is due to be published i late A cetral theme of the ew strategy will be talet ad skills. Supportig Iclusio ad Diversity Implemetatio of DEIS (Deliverig Equality of Opportuity i Schools) the Actio Pla for Educatioal Iclusio i primary ad secod level schools. Work is ow uderway o idetifyig optios for future itervetios to tackle educatioal disadvatage i school. Supports are provided for studets with special educatioal eeds ad disabilities. New ispectio models will evaluate ad report o the quality of educatio provisio for margialised learers ad learers with special educatio eeds durig Legislative proposals have bee published which will provide the legal uderpiig to esure that the process of erollig childre i schools is more ope, equitable ad cosistet. Educatio services are provided i alterative settigs for childre ad youg people who are at risk ad referrals provided to specialist services ad cetres. Implemetatio of the Report ad Recommedatios for a Traveller Educatio Strategy is uderway. A ew Natioal Access Pla for higher educatio is beig fialised to promote access for disadvataged groups ad to put i place coheret pathways from secod level educatio, from further educatio ad other o-traditioal etry routes. A scheme of meas tested studet grats is provided for further ad higher educatio courses which icludes a special rate of maiteace grat for studets from welfare-depedet families ad a Studet Assistace Fud at college level to assist studets i particular fiacial difficulties. A ew Third Level Bursary Scheme based o merit, but targeted specifically towards studets from disadvataged areas, commeced i The Departmet has commeced work o the developmet of a more strategic approach to social iclusio across the cotiuum of educatio. I 2015 this work will focus o a mappig ad aalysis of curret policies ad programmes ad the preparatio of a policy documet to direct future provisio i this area. INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 29

16 Buildig the right systems ad ifrastructure: Creatig cetres of excellece for teacher educatio: Structural chage is uderway to create a small umber of high quality cetres for the provisio of teacher educatio with a plaed reductio i the umber of teacher educatio providers from 19 to 6. Buildig a primary ad post primary learer database: New databases which hold studet iformatio as they progress through primary ad post primary school are beig developed to provide valuable iformatio for the developmet of policy withi the Departmet ad help reduce the admiistrative burde o schools. Natioal Framework of Qualificatios: Overview of the Labour Market Populatio by Labour Market Status Quarter 2, 2015 Childre (<15) 1,028,900 Populatio 4,636,000 Workig age populatio (15-64) 3,000, ad older 606,300 The Natioal Framework of Qualificatios (NFQ), which embraces all sectors of educatio ad traiig, eables qualificatios to be compared ad recogised, i Irelad ad abroad. The NFQ facilitates idividuals i accessig ad progressig through educatio ad traiig programmes icludig across differet fields ad disciplies. It also gives assuraces that qualificatios are robust. I employmet full-time 1,469,800 I employmet part-time 423,800 Not i employmet 1,107,200 I employmet 65,100 (35,000 full-time) Not i employmet 541,200 Uemployed (ILO) 210,000 Iactive 897,100 Seekig full time employmet 183,800 Seekig part time employmet 20,200 Studet 347,000 Seekig employmet as self employed 6,100 Ill health/ disability 105,700 Home duties 285,000 Source: SLMRU (SOLAS) aalysis of CSO data Note: Discrepacies are due to roudig. Other 98,500 Retired 60, NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 31

17 RETAINING SKILLED PEOPLE IN THE WORKFORCE RETAINING SKILLED PEOPLE IN THE WORKFORCE The Moitorig Skills Supply 2015 shows that there has bee a drop of almost 200,000 (or 26%) i the umber of year olds i the populatio. This is partly due to a fall i the umber of births i the 1990s, although outward migratio is show to have egatively affected those aged ad far more tha ay other age group. I the comig decades there will be a reductio i the umber of people i age group ad a substatial icrease i the very old populatio (80 years ad over) The Natioal Skills Bulleti 2015 shows that et outward migratio for Irish atioals cotiued to persist at 29,200 i 2014; although this was a declie of 6,000 compared to 2013(35,200) I the comig decades there will be a reductio i the umber of people i the stadard workig ages (20 64) I the Populatio ad Labour Force Projectios ), the CSO preset three scearios of et migratio: l l All three assume some level of egative migratio i the period up to 2016 ragig from -19,100 to 25,100 I the period two scearios (M1 ad M2) forecast a retur to positive et migratio ragig from a low of 4,700 to a high of 18,200 The old populatio (i.e. those aged 65 years ad over) is projected to icrease very sigificatly from its 2011 level of 532,000 to betwee 850,000 ad 860,700 by 2026, ad to close to 1.4 millio by The very old populatio (i.e. those aged 80 years of age ad over) is set to rise eve more dramatically, icreasig from 128,000 i 2011 to betwee 484,000 ad 470,000 i 2046 depedig o the sceario chose. l I the period the egative migratio sceario forecasts average aual et migratio of mius 5,000 compared to the positive sceario s of et migratio betwee 10,000 ad 30,000. As highlighted at a recet Natioal Youth Coucil of Irelad coferece, failure to attract emigrats back to Irelad has serious social ad ecoomic policy implicatios. As well as the impact o potetial future ecoomic growth there are implicatios for Irelad i terms of impact o the family, alteratio of Irelad s age structure ad emergece of a youth geeratio gap. Source: Populatio ad Labour Force Projectios NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 33

18 SKILLED MIGRANTS IN THE WORKFORCE The 2015 Natioal Skills Bulleti idicates that i Q4 2014, o-irish atioals accouted for 286,000 persos or 14.7% of total employmet. EU atioals accouted for over 70% of all o-irish atioals. SKILLED MIGRANTS IN THE WORKFORCE The State s geeral policy is to promote the sourcig of labour ad skills eeds from withi the workforce of the EU (icludig Irelad) ad other EEA States. Where specific skills prove difficult to source withi the EEA, a Employmet Permit may be sought by a employer to hire a o-eea atioal. However, migratio is iteded to complemet the primary policy objective of Govermet which is the up-skillig of the residet populatio at all levels. Irelad 85.2% UK 2.6% EU 15 (excl. Irish & UK) 1.1% EU 15 to EU % Asia 1.6% Other 2.6% While we will work to icrease the umbers of graduates with the appropriate skills from our ow educatio ad traiig system, the speed of iovatio i the marketplace, ad the rapid evolutio of the techologies i eterprises requires a ehacemet of our capacity to attract experieced professioals from elsewhere to expad Irelad s skills base. Eve i the cotext of a steady icrease i idigeous expertise, there will always be iovators ad kowledge leaders with cuttig edge or combiatio skill-sets, who Irish-based eterprises may wish to attract. A total of 5,175 Employmet Permits were issued to ed Q3 2015, a 13% icrease over the same period i The ICT sector has accouted for 39% of all Employmet Permits issued, with a further 36% issued to the healthcare sector. I terms of occupatios, professioals accouted for 73% of all permits issued to ed Q3 2015, for positios icludig IT developers, doctors, urses, egieers ad busiess aalysts. 34 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 35

19 Educatio Profile of the Labour Market I Q4 2014, the educatio profile of employmet i Irelad shows that: 15% of persos i employmet had at most qualificatios at NFQ levels % had qualificatios at NFQ levels % had qualificatios at NFQ levels % had qualificatios at NFQ levels 8-10 qualificatios at NFQ levels 15% 18% 7 12% % % 15% Educatio Profile of the Labour Market Eurostat Percetage of People Employed by Qualificatio Level Age Less tha primary, primary ad lower secodary educatio Upper secodary ad post-secodary o-tertiary educatio Tertiary Not stated educatio (levels 5-8) Europea Uio 18% 49% 33% 0% (28 coutries) Czech Republic 4% 73% 23% 0% Germay 12% 60% 28% 0% Estoia 8% 53% 39% Irelad 14% 38% 45% 3% Lithuaia 4% 53% 42% Netherlads 22% 42% 35% 1% Polad 6% 62% 32% Filad 12% 46% 42% Swede 14% 48% 38% 0% Uited Kigdom 15% 42% 42% 1% Norway 17% 41% 42% 0% The Eurostat data above shows that people with less tha primary, primary ad lower secodary educatio represet 18% of all those i employmet (15 to 64 years) i 28 EU coutries. I compariso to Irelad at 14%, the low skilled make up 12% of those i employmet i Germay, 15% i the UK, 17% i Norway, 22% i the Netherlads, 6% i Polad ad just 4% i the Czech Republic, Lithuaia ad Slovakia. For those i employmet with upper secodary ad post secodary but o-tertiary, Irelad has the lowest proportio out of the coutries listed at 38% ad is well below the EU average of 49%. I cotrast, for those i employmet with tertiary qualificatios, Irelad far exceeds the EU average of 33% ad has the highest proportio of the coutries listed at 45%, followed by Lithuaia, Filad ad Norway all o 42%. 36 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 37

20 Profile of uemploymet The overall umber of those i uemploymet as of quarter is 211,200 69% (148,800) are betwee the ages of 25 ad 54 The largest cohort of uemployed are betwee the ages of 25 ad 34 The overall percetage of those who are uemployed i quarter is 9.8% Oly 33% of people with disability of workig age are i work compared with 66% of o-disabled people Uemploymet rates are the highest amog the yougest age groups Although those betwee the ages of 15 to 24 accout for oly 9% of the labour force 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% years Overview of Uemploymet Q years years years years years % Uemployed (LHS) Numbers uemployed (RHS) years 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 Profile of uemploymet There is a strog correlatio betwee educatioal attaimet ad uemploymet, with uemploymet rates highest for those with the lowest levels of qualificatios Uemploymet rate by level of educatio - Q Primary or below Lower secodary Upper secodary Post-secodary o-tertiary Third level o-hoours degree Third level hoours degree or higher Other Note: refers to persos aged years Data Source: CSO (QNHS) 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% Educatioal attaimet is a good predictor of labour force activity, 17% of those with a third level qualificatio are iactive compared to 33% of those with a higher secodary or PLC qualificatio Persos aged 15 to 64 years ot i Labour Force Third level hoours degree or above 9% Third level ohoours degree 8% Post secodary o-tertiary 7% Higher secodary 26% Other/Not stated 3% Primary or below 19% Lower secodary 28% Note: refers to persos aged years Source: CSO (QNHS) 38 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 39

21 Labour Market Activatio: INITIATIVES UNDERWAY I 2012, the Govermet lauched a two proged approach to tacklig the jobs crisis with the lauch of Pathways to Work ad the Actio Pla for Jobs iitiatives. The Actio Pla for Jobs is focused o stimulatig employmet growth; Pathways to Work o makig sure that as may as possible of these ew jobs, ad other vacacies that arise i the ecoomy are filled by people from the Live Register. There have bee sigificat reforms of the State s approach to helpig uemployed jobseekers retur to work. Sice its lauch, this programme of work has see the: Rollout of Itreo, a sigle poit of cotact for all employmet ad icome supports. Desiged to provide a more streamlied approach, Itreo offers practical, tailored employmet services ad supports for jobseekers ad employers alike. As part of the rollout of Itreo, the followig measures have bee itroduced: l l a Group Egagemet process whereby all ew jobseekers are briefed o the services available to them the profilig of every cliet o the Live Register to help prioritise ad direct itervetios l l l l the itroductio of a case maagemet approach whereby jobseekers receive scheduled oe-to-oe iterviews with case officers based o their profile the itroductio of a social cotract of rights ad resposibilities betwee jobseekers ad the State for both the Departmet of Social Protectio ad the jobseeker agreed through the Record of Mutual Commitmet the redesig of paymet claim processes to sigificatly reduce the processig time of jobseeker paymet claims the itroductio of fast-track claim processig to allow uemployed jobseekers take up short-term/seasoal work opportuities. Developmet ad rollout of JobBridge, the atioal itership scheme Desig, developmet ad itroductio of JobsPlus, a icetive scheme from the Departmet of Social Protectio to ecourage ad reward employers who offer employmet opportuities to the log term uemployed Merger of the Commuity Welfare Service (CWS), the Departmet of Social Protectio (DSP) ad the employmet ad commuity services of the former FÁS to deliver this trasformed service Modificatio of jobseeker paymet rates icludig the itroductio of pealty rates of paymet, revised paymets for casual workers ad youg jobseekers ad the itroductio of a trasitioal Jobseeker scheme for loe parets migratig from the Oe-Paret Family Paymet A icrease i the umber of places o Tús, Commuity Employmet ad traiig & educatio programmes by about 30% Developmet ad lauch of Mometum ad Sprigboard providig skills traiig ad educatio i areas where there is demad for skills i the labour market. Both of these iitiatives are fuded by the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills ad maaged by SOLAS ad the HEA respectively. 40 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 41

22 Lauch of the Skills to Work jobs campaig, aimed at makig it easier for jobseekers ad employers to kow what Govermet skills iitiatives are available to them. This icludes the five skills iitiatives: Sprigboard, Mometum, JobBridge, JobsPlus ad Skillets A icrease i the umber of staff deployed o frot-lie case work duties Creatio of a Employer Services Divisio i DSP to start the process of buildig effective relatioships with employers Desig ad tederig of a cotracted employmet services model - JobPath Formatio of a Labour Market Coucil of idustry leaders ad labour market specialists to moitor ad advise o the implemetatio of the Pathways to Work Strategy Developmet of protocols betwee the Departmet of Social Protectio, the Departmet of Jobs, Eterprise ad Iovatio, IDA Irelad, Eterprise Irelad ad the ew Local Eterprise Offices (LEO s) to maximise the recruitmet of appropriately skilled persos from the Live Register by eterprise agecy cliet compaies There has bee a icrease i the umber of follow-up iterviews with jobseekers (137,000 i 2013) idicatig the impact of icreasig the umber of case officers The umber of ew pealty rates of paymet applied has icreased from just uder 100 i Q to almost 1,500 i Q This demostrates the itet of the Pathways to Work programme to tackle low-itesity job-search by recipiets of jobseekers paymets. A further review of Pathways to Work will take place durig Sprigboard Sprigboard was desiged to help reskill people who lost their jobs as a result of the recessio. By the ed of 2015, up to 30,000 places will have bee fuded uder the iitiative, which is supported by a 105 millio ivestmet from the Exchequer. The programme has bee cotiually evaluated sice it commeced i 2011 ad the most recet tred aalysis shows that: a survey of all graduates idicates that withi two years of completig a Sprigboard course, 60% of respodets are employed or self-employed, with progressio to employmet steadily icreasig over time. Some key statistics related to the rollout of Pathways to Work iclude: The total umber of log-term uemployed people who have moved ito employmet sice Pathways to Work was lauched i 2012 is ow over 70,000 The exit rate for people who have bee o the Live Register for two years or more has rise from 26% i 2012 to 47% i July 2015 a sca of data by the Departmet of Social Protectio idicates that 74% of all Sprigboard participats are o loger o the Live Register. 95% of respodets jobs are i Irelad ad 49% are located outside Dubli. The quality of employmet is also improvig, with 85% of respodets employed full-time ad 62% i maagerial or professioal roles. The persistece rate (the rate at which short term uemployed people become log term uemployed) has falle from 35% i 2012 to 28% i July 2015 Participats who were log-term uemployed at the start of their course fid it harder to get employmet but 45% of this group ow achieve employmet or self-employmet withi six moths of completig a Sprigboard course. 42 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 43

23 Mometum JobsPlus Mometum provides free educatio ad traiig courses for log-term jobseekers eablig them to gai i-demad skills ad to access work i sectors of the ecoomy where there are job opportuities, such as ICT, tourism ad hospitality, trasport, distributio ad logistics. The programmes are aliged to levels 4 to 6 o the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios (NFQ) or to a idustry recogised certificatio withi the sector, ad iclude o-the job traiig i the form of work experiece modules. I lie with the Departmet s commitmet to the Youth Guaratee iitiative, oe third of all places are rig-feced for the uder 25 s. A evaluatio of Mometum idicates over 50% of starters o the programme had siged off the Live Register at the ed of the programme i JobsPlus is a employer icetive which ecourages ad rewards employers who employ jobseekers o the Live Register. It is desiged to ecourage employers ad busiesses to employ people who have bee out of work for log periods. Eligibility was broadeed i 2015 to iclude youg jobseekers (uder 25 year olds) uemployed for four moths or more i the previous 6 moths ad jobseekers trasitioig from Oe Paret Family Paymet. JobsPlus provides a direct mothly fiacial icetive to employers i the form of a mothly grat paid over two years. The provisio of JobsPlus for 2015 is 25.5 millio with the aim of supportig 6,000 employees i employmet. Skillets JobBridge JobBridge is the atioal itership scheme providig uemployed people the opportuity to gai valuable experiece i a workig eviromet ad to gai the relevat kowledge ad skills required to eter ito a particular career field. The work experiece placemets are for a 6 moth or 9 moth period. JobBridge aims to assist i breakig the cycle where jobseekers are uable to get a job without experiece, either as ew etrats to the labour market after educatio or traiig or as uemployed workers wishig to lear ew skills. Iters receive a allowace of 50 per week o top of their social protectio etitlemet which is payable for the period of the itership. To date 41,259 iters ad 17,000 host orgaisatios have registered with JobBridge. Skillets fuds ad facilitates traiig through over 50 etworks of private sector compaies uder the Traiig Networks Programme (TNP), i a rage of sectors ad regios across the coutry. These etworks idetify their ow commo traiig eeds, typically o a regioal or sectoral basis. They also source their ow traiig providers ad develop their ow learig solutios. This esures projects remai eterprise-led ad aliged with their eeds. I 2014 Skillets achieved over 100% of the target set for traiig days i respect of employees ad jobseekers. Skills to Work The Skills to Work brad, developed by Govermet, represets a coordiated approach to presetig the rage of eterprise-focused targeted educatio ad traiig programmes available to jobseekers. Skills to Work icludes ICT coversio courses, Sprigboard, Mometum, Skillets Jobseeker iitiatives, ad two programmes from the Departmet of Social Protectio, JobBridge ad JobsPlus. 44 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 45

24 Other relevat iitiatives uderway iclude: As part of Pathways to Work, a Youth Guaratee Implemetatio Pla has bee developed ad is ow beig implemeted The First Steps programme offers a youg perso aged 18 to 24, who has had little or o experiece of workig, the opportuity to lear basic work skills ad social skills while o a placemet i a real work situatio. Sice 1 Jauary 2015, uder JobsPlus Youth, the qualifyig period for JobsPlus for jobseekers aged uder 25 has bee reduced to 4 moths. Eligible youg people are give certificatio that they qualify for the JobsPlus subsidy ad they ca use this whe applyig for jobs. The first Irish diaspora policy, Global Irish, was published i March The policy recogises the uique ad importat relatioship betwee Irelad ad its diaspora ad sets out actios to urture ad develop this relatioship ad to egage the diaspora. A ew website was also established at ad icludes iformatio for the diaspora o support services; livig abroad; stayig i touch; ad returig home to Irelad I early 2015, the Govermet aouced a iitiative to develop eight regioal Actio Plas for Jobs i order to support job creatio across the coutry. As of September 2015, three plas have bee published for the Midlads, South West ad South East. A comprehesive employmet strategy for people with disabilities has recetly bee published which provides a framework for actios to improve the trasitio to work of people with disability. Overview of Busiess i Irelad The recovery i Irelad is beig uderpied by a competitive export-led eterprise sector ad this is supported through a rage of iitiatives icludig the Natioal Actio Pla for Jobs iitiative itroduced i 2012 ad the more recet Actio Pla for Jobs Regioal iitiative that commeced i Irelad is competig i a icreasigly competitive global eviromet which is costatly chagig ad evolvig. This meas that there is a costat eed for eterprises to esure they have people with the right skills for their busiess as it develops. It s also importat that educatio ad traiig providers ad curret ad future employees have access to iformatio o what skills are i demad ad what career opportuities are available. Busiess i Irelad 185,499 active eterprises i Busiess ecoomy employ 1.2m people (excludes public sector, health, educatio, agriculture) 99.7% are SMEs: total employmet 829, % of compaies employ less tha 10 people each EI/IDA cliet base c.6000 compaies with c.300,000 employees 30% of employmet i Retail ad Accommodatio, lowest value added 14% of employmet i Maufacturig, highest value added 6% of employmet i ICT, 2d highest value added Source: CSO Busiess i Irelad 2012 Report, published December NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 47

25 Employer Profile Number of compaies Employmet % of total employmet Large (+250) ,000 32% Medium (50-249) 2, ,000 19% Small (10-49 ) 14, , % Micro (-10) 168, , % Employmet by ecoomic sector Employmet Growth by Sector - Q to Q Wholesale ad retail trade Huma health Idustry Educatio Accommodatio & food -1% Costructio Professioal activities etc. -6% Agriculture etc. -2% Other NACE activities Fiacial activities etc. Public admi ad defece, compulsory social security Trasportatio ad storage ICT Admiistrative ad support service -1% 1% 1% 4% 3% 4% 5% 1% 1% 1% 19% Labour Market-Skills Shortages The Natioal Skills Bulleti 2015 highlights that as the ecoomic recovery gathers pace, skills shortages are beig observed i a greater umber of occupatios ad sectors tha i recet years. These shortages may be small i scale but critical to the operatio ad developmet of the particular sector I summary, skills shortages are arisig for roles i the followig sectors: Professioals/associate professioals (ICT, egieerig, sciece, busiess & fiace, health ad costructio) Clerical (multiligual credit cotrol/debt cotrol ad supply chai) Skilled trades (chefs, tool makig, weldig (TIG, MIG), butchers/deboers, steel-erector) Sales (techical sales, multiligual customer support, olie sales ad marketig) Operatives (CNC, drivers (fork lift ad special vehicle)) Retetio issues are also beig experieced(care, chefs, butchers/deboers, elemetary (e.g. waiters)) The Expert Group o Future Skills eeds has idetified the eed for skills i high-level ICT skills (for the ICT sector ad across all sectors), Big Data & Aalytics skills (ICT sector ad data savvy roles across sectors), maufacturig (all maufacturig, egieerig, biopharma-pharmachem, Medical Devices, Food & Beverages, ICT Hardware, Skillsto Trade Iteratioally (all sectors), Iteratioal Fiacial Services, Costructio Skills, Etrepreeurship (all sectors), Creativity, Desig & Iovatio (all sectors), Freight Trasport, Distributio ad Logistics, Cross Eterprise Skills (all sectors) ad foreig laguage competece. The Employer Survey, published i 2015, also shows that there are lower satisfactio rates amog employers with the laguage skills, busiess acume/awareess ad etrepreeurial skills of graduates. -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 48 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 49

26 Etrepreeurship New ad growig busiesses are a essetial part of the ecoomic structure i ay coutry, without growig busiesses, goals of full employmet ad wealth creatio caot be achieved The Global Etrepreeurship Moitor Survey shows that Irelad is close to the Europea Uio average i ascet etrepreeurship (those i the process of startig up), ew busiess owership ad discotiuatio of busiess rates Irish etrepreeurship i the form of established busiess owership rates exceed the Europea Uio average by 3.2 percetage poits OCCUPATIONAL Forecasts The Skills ad Labour Market Research Uit i SOLAS forecasts that over the period to 2020 the strogest rate of employmet growth will be i costructio (albeit from a low base followig the recessio), STEM occupatios icludig competitive maufacturig, legal, busiess ad fiacial occupatios. A recovery i the EU ecoomy would brig strog employmet growth for sales occupatios (over 40,000); however, lack of credit or drag i the EU exports, would reduce employmet growth to a quarter of that projected for the recovery. It is forecast that there will be slow growth for educatio, health ad social care occupatios (3,000-22,000) ad the umber of farmers are expected to declie by 13,000. The Europea Uio average etrepreeurship rate for early stage etrepreeurial activity exceeds the Irish rate by 1.3 percetage poits Phases of etrepreeurial activity Nascet Etrepreeurship rate New busiess Owership Early Stage etrepreeurial activity Established buisess owership rate Europea Uio Irelad Discotiuatio of buisess 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% % of populatio aged Source: GEM 2014 Costructio Legal Busiess Sciece, Egieerig, IT Fiacial Trasport Sales ad customer service No-costructio craft Other services Arts, sports ad tourism Operative Security Admiistrative Elemetary Healthcare Social ad care Educatio Farmers Source: SLMRU, SOLAS -30% % 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 50 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 51

27 Busiess i Irelad: Iitiatives already uderway The Global Treds emergig as a cosequece will have implicatios for eterprise policy ad also for educatio ad traiig policy. These treds are summarised below: Eterprise Policy 2025, is a ew te year framework for Irish eterprise policy. It will set out the strategic actios eeded to esure Irelad s eterprise policy is robust i the cotext of a chagig competitive eviromet, ad itesified global competitio for trade, ivestmet ad people. The strategic actios are framed by Global Drivers of Chage ad Global Treds which are forecast to develop over the comig decade ad will have implicatios for eterprise policy. The Global Drivers of Chage are shapig the eviromet i which busiess operates ad iclude demographics, techological advaces ad climate chage. Icreasig demad for resources Urbaisatio io Techology disruptio Emergig Global Treds Global Value Networks Shiftig Cosumptio Patters Climate Chage Shiftig global ecoomic power structures Redefiitio io of the workplace Globalisatio io / coectedess /competitio Food, Water, Eergy Nexus Workforce trasitioig Idividual Empowermet Geo-Political Volatility Global Drivers of Chage Demographics Global Ecoomic Ucertaity / Public Debt Techological cal Advaces Techology Disruptio Emergig or developig techologies are expected to cotiue to drive substatial ecoomic impact ad disruptio across all sectors of the ecoomy. ICT iovatios ad processes will eable trasformatio of busiess models, orgaisatioal structures ad value chais. Key Eablig Techologies (KETs) will facilitate the creatio of ew products ad services, disruptig ad supplatig established oes. Potetial major disruptors iclude: Mobile iteret, automatio of kowledge work, iteret of thigs, cloud techology, advaced robotics, autoomous or ear autoomous vehicles, ext geeratio geomics, eergy storage, 3D pritig, advaced materials, advaced oil ad gas discovery, reewable eergy. This tred is cosidered a key driver of competitiveess. 52 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 53

28 Global Value Networks (GVNs) Previously itegrated idustrial operatios are icreasigly sliced up ito highly complex smaller maufacturig ad services packages, sometimes geographically redistributed across cotiets. Differet stages i the productio process are located across differet ecoomies, leadig to greater specialisatio- these broadly ecompass all activities of firms value chais, icludig productio, distributio, sales ad marketig, R&D, iovatio. The emergece of GVNs is facilitated by falls i trasport ad commuicatio costs, ad trasactio costs ad risks traditioally associated with doig busiess across borders. This tred has implicatios for Irelad s FDI positio, the competitiveess of Irish firms as suppliers, parters ad iovators ad growth/iteratioalisatio strategies of Irish based firms. Shiftig ecoomic power structures Greater global assertio by developig ad trasitio ecoomies through demographic growth, outward ivestmet, techology disruptio, ad the expasio of their middle classes, which has icreased demad for goods ad services. These ecoomies have attaied greater power to ifluece world ecoomic policy. This tred has implicatios for diversificatio of Irelad s FDI portfolio, its positio o iteratioal trade egotiatios, the iteratioalisatio strategies of Irish firms, Irelad s mergers ad acquisitios framework. Shiftig cosumptio patters Shiftig cosumer patters ad behaviours are impactig o maufacturig ad retail. Cosumer prefereces are becomig more diverse ad customised. Expasio of e-commerce is brigig the global marketplace to ay idividual cosumer with a iteret coectio which i tur is creatig a wider ad more ope market where small, iovative compaies ca gai tractio quickly. Better iformed cosumers are also icreasigly guided by values rather tha just ecessarily price, e.g. cocers over the sustaiability of food sources ad fair trade. Coutries with ageig populatios ad low fertility rates (i.e. most developed coutries) drivig strog demads o health ad lifestyle products ad services. Urbaisatio/Pressure o Resources The growth i urbaisatio, ad with it the importace of the city will icreasigly preset challeges for policy makers to maage the growth sustaiably. 60% of the world s populatio is projected to live i cities by 2020, icreasig to 70% by Cities are icreasigly i competitio with each other to attract ivestmet ad talet. Populatio growth is leadig to icreased demad for resources: food, water ad eergy, commodities/raw materials. The resultig pressure o resources (e.g. rise i eergy prices), ad global push to cut carbo emissios, holds potetial for move to low carbo, resource efficiet ecoomy. Climate chage is testig the resiliece of atural systems globally. Workforce trasitioig Techology advaces are requirig higher levels of tech savyess ad leadig to a icreasig dager of skills obsolescece amogst maturig employees. This gives rise to a eed for reskillig ad upskillig o a ogoig basis. Differetial rates of ecoomic growth, techology adoptio ad demographic ageig are predicted to fuel a declie i availability of skilled workers globally. New Ways of Workig All of the above treds are impactig o the world of work. Workplaces are becomig more mobile ad flexible, with idividuals idetifyig with a particular skill/professioal etwork rather tha a sigle compay. More flexible forms of work are already beig used icludig job sharig, casual work, ICT based mobile work ad portfolio work. Geeratioal differeces are emergig with the so-called tech-savvy geeratio havig differet orms ad expectatios about work ad the workplace. Advatages of flexible work forms deped o cotext. Some employees will experiece more or less flexibility ad bargaiig power. Some forms of casual work characterised by low icome, poor social protectio, little career developmet prospect e.g. pheomeo of zero hours cotract. 54 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 55

29 How we gather ad use iformatio o the demad for skills DSP labour market coucil Natioal Targeted Skills Programmes Sprigboard/ ICT Skills Mometum Appreticeship solas hea Appreticeship Coucil Natioal Skills Policy ad Strategy Miister for Educatio ad Skills DES Regioal Skills Fora Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Eterprise Egagemet Forum There are a umber of structures i place to gather ad use itelligece o the demad for skills. Eterprise Egagemet Forum Miister for Jobs, Eterprise ad Iovatio Actio Pla for Jobs/Regioal Eterprise Strategies The Expert Group o Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) The Expert Group o Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) was established i 1997 to provide advice o future skills eeds ad emergig skills gaps. It reports joitly to the Miister for Educatio ad Skills ad the Miister for Jobs, Eterprise ad Iovatio. Activities of the EGFSN are fuded by the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills from the Natioal Traiig Fud. The Chair is appoited by the two Miisters ad members iclude represetatives from Govermet Departmets, SOLAS, the HEA, uiversities, istitutes of techologies, Skillets, Eterprise Irelad, IDA Irelad, IBEC, ICTU, NALA ad idividual eterprises. The EGFSN oversees a work programme of research ad aalysis maaged by a Secretariat joitly provided by the Strategic Labour Market Uit of SOLAS (SLMRU) ad the Departmet of Jobs, Eterprise ad Iovatio (DJEI). The SLMRU also maages the Natioal Skills Database which pools all available iformatio o the supply ad demad for skills i Irelad ad it produces a umber of reports aually o the demad ad supply of skills. EGFSN ad SLMRU research provides a iput to the developmet of course curricula ad has iformed the developmet of ew competitive fudig models of provisio to address emergig skills eeds, icludig Sprigboard, Mometum ad the ICT skills coversio programmes. EGFSN/SLMRU reports are published o the EGFSN website The Eterprise Egagemet Forum, chaired by the Secretary Geeral of the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills, was established i 2011 to provide a opportuity for regular direct egagemet o key educatio policy issues with eterprise parters. The eterprise side is represeted by IBEC, America Chamber of Commerce, Chambers Irelad, ISME ad various compay represetatives. Ageda items are proposed by the eterprise side ad the format of the meetigs is geerally ope discussio. The Departmet of Jobs, Eterprise ad Iovatio also participates i the Forum. 56 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 57

30 The Appreticeship Coucil The Appreticeship Coucil was established by the Miister for Educatio ad Skills i November 2014 to oversee the expasio of appreticeship ito ew sectors of the ecoomy. The Coucil is eterprise led ad has represetatives from busiess, trade uios, further ad higher educatio bodies ad the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills. New Network of Regioal Skills Fora The Departmet of Educatio ad Skills is leadig a project to create a etwork of regioal skills fora to foster greater egagemet betwee the educatio ad traiig system, employers ad other local stakeholders i buildig the skills eeds of their regios. The objective is to provide for a mechaism for egagemet o skills issues that is simple ad accessible for both providers ad employers. Developig a ew Natioal Skills Strategy For the period The OECD Framework for Skills Strategy Developmet OECD Skills Strategy, Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Lives sets out a Strategic Approach to developig Skills Policies. The strategy idetifies three key themes that eed to be examied i developig effective skills policies: - How to develop relevat skills - How to activate skills supply - How to esure effective use of skills Usig the OECD framework as a referece poit, we are seekig commets o existig policy approaches ad o proposals for ew actios to be cosidered for iclusio i the ew Natioal Skills Strategy. The followig sectios provide a overview of the OECD framework, the relevat policy levers that are suggested for each theme ad questios relevat to the developmet of policy ad iitiatives i Irelad. 58 NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 59

31 Developig relevat skills A coutry ca develop its relevat skills by: Activatig skills A coutry ca activate the supply of its skills by: Effective use of skills A coutry ca put its skills to effective use by: key strategic themes ad feedback areas Tell us your views Ecouragig ad eablig people to lear throughout life Fosterig iteratioal mobility of skilled people to fill skills gaps Promotig cross-border skills policies Icreasig egagemet betwee eterprise ad the educatio ad traiig system icludig schools, further educatio ad traiig providers ad higher educatio istitutios Ecouragig people to offer their skills to the labour market Retaiig skilled people i the labour market Egagemet betwee eterprise ad the educatio ad traiig system to desig appropriate upskillig ad reskillig opportuities Creatig a better match betwee people s skills ad the requiremets of the labour market Icreasig the demad for highlevel skills Egagemet betwee eterprise ad the educatio ad traiig system o immediate ad future skills eeds You ca sed us your submissio o the questios set out i the followig sectios: or by to ss@educatio.gov.ie by post to Higher Educatio Policy ad Skills Uit, Departmet of Educatio ad Skills, Marlborough Street, Dubli 1. by olie form at The closig date for submissios is Tuesday 1st December, NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS 61