EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT — SOLVING THE MISMATCH

Three priorities are needed to produce a better correlation between education and employment. The first priority is to foster consistent national strategies for economic recovery and development. Stop‐go policies have burdened us for too long. There will be no effective solution unless there is a sound framework for the economic vitality of the country. We can surely all see the need for an effective industrial strategy, which encourages investment in profitable manufacturing enterprise, and motivates effective use of resources — people, finance, energy, plant and equipment. Public sector investment should be part of this strategy — nationalised industries such as my own should be encouraged to invest profitably in capital schemes which also have tangible benefits in wealth and job creation. I would like to see better opportunities for employment, and the allocation of appropriate resources for education and training increasing as a result of a consistent programme of wealth creation from which we can all draw benefit. Improving the mismatch is part of the process of economic growth and social evolution.