Pm Tips New Fund In Plans To Remedy Skills Shortage
The Age
Tuesday September 19, 2006
PRIME Minister John Howard has blamed past intakes of unskilled migrants and high school drop-out rates in the 1970s and 1980s for leaving 3.5 million Australians of working age without a complete school education.
And he has warned that many of them may lack the basic literacy and numeracy skills that are becoming essential for keeping a job or finding a new one in a high-tech age.Foreshadowing a wave of reforms to realign Australia's training system to workers who need upgrades or retraining, the Prime Minister agreed to consider creating a billion-dollar national skills fund.He nominated three priorities: lifting basic skill levels, boosting apprenticeship completion rates and training more scientists and engineers. Business backed Mr Howard's proposals, but unions said they feared his call for "flexible" training was "simply code for narrow, partial qualifications and training that will only meet the immediate needs for a particular job".Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said Mr Howard was the problem - not the solution - on skills. "It is he who created the skills shortage - 10 years on, it's too late for him to be saying that he is part of the solution," he said.Criticising the states for failing to deliver flexible training to meet the new needs of workers and businesses, Mr Howard said those who argued that the problem could be solved with a "quick government fix" were being "intellectually arrogant".Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout said it was unacceptable to leave people with limited skills competing for fewer unskilled jobs."If we lift skills, it's good for individuals, for business and it will make the economy grow faster - it's a virtuous circle."
© 2006 The Age