You would imagine this will involve a lot of information on astronauts and firemen. Actually, this plea from The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is more about teaching children from primary school age the importance and value of work rather than what job they will do.
The BCC would like the government to transform the education system to address the problem of youth unemployment and the worrying numbers leaving education without the “attitude and aptitude” for the workplace.
The BCC are proposing a universal qualification, based on the music exams model, where pupils from primary school upwards work through the grades and will test the key skills employers are looking for: literacy; numeracy; ICT and foreign languages.
This comes in a week when a major inquiry reported that England’s education system is failing to meet the country’s long term economic needs. The underlying consensus seems to be a desire to move education away from politics and concentrate on long-term strategy devised by all stakeholders, but it will take a brave secretary of state to hand over the reins.