Learning and skills are central to economic growth and social inclusion. This report, commissioned by OCN NI, projects Northern Ireland’s skills base through to 2030 and compares this to a number of OECD countries.
The report shows that on current trends Northern Ireland will continue to lag many other countries on a number of measures of learning and skills in 2030. These shortfalls can be particularly seen in basic skills like literacy and numeracy, higher education, and the proportion of people qualified to at least level 2.
This would hold back both economic growth and social inclusion. The report argues for Northern Ireland to set a higher ambition for skills, benchmarked against other countries. It makes recommendations for delivering this in practice, including building learning into other policy areas like health and developing clear learning pathways.
This report makes the case for a higher ambition to address these skill deficits and improve Northern Ireland’s prospects into 2030. Five policy recommendations are made in order to achieve this aim: