Press Release
Date: Tuesday 16 November 2004 (NR/28/04)
“SUPPORT SCHOOLS IN LEARNING FOR LIFE AND WORK” says CCEA Chairman
The Chairman of CCEA Dr Alan Lennon has called on business and community leaders across Northern Ireland to lend their support to a new and exciting area of the Northern Ireland curriculum – Learning for Life and Work.
Learning for Life and Work, which includes areas such as employability, personal development and citizenship, is a new, compulsory and integral part of what will be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools. It marks a shift in emphasis away from an over concentration on content towards a greater emphasis on skills development, creativity and enterprise.
Speaking to an invited audience of business and community leaders at the launch of a consultative forum for this new area of the curriculum, Dr Lennon said:
“The Education Minister’s acceptance of CCEA’s proposals for what should be taught and assessed in our schools means that Learning for Life and Work will be placed at the centre of the school curriculum.
Delivering it will be a great challenge for teachers – they can’t do it on their own. They will need the support of government, employers and the wider community. That is why we need you to help us ensure that the content of Learning for Life and Work stimulates each young person’s imagination and interest in key issues that affect their lives, including future career development.
Also speaking at the event was Stephen Kingon, Senior Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, who gave a view from business:
“As globalisation and technology shrink borders, we must broaden the horizons of our young people and prepare them for the opportunities and challenges they will encounter in both life and work.
“Business has long argued that schools and college-leavers lack the work-readiness skills that industry needs. Now is the chance to redress that balance and we should welcome it.
“Competing in the new economy demands a partnership between business and education to stimulate curiosity, creativity and entrepreneurism amongst a new generation. If business is to profit from the Learning for Life and Work initiative, we must invest in helping teachers and schools to design and deliver it.”
Standing Consultative Forum on Learning for Life and Work
Dr Lennon and Mr Kingon were speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Standing Consultative Forum on Learning for Life and Work, which took place on Tuesday 16 November at the Stormont Hotel, Belfast .
Learning for Life and Work
In June 2004 the Minster for Education, Barry Gardiner MP, accepted in full CCEA’s proposals for future curriculum and assessment arrangements in Northern Ireland .
A key priority of the reforms is the introduction of Learning for Life and Work which includes the following elements:
- Education for Employability
- Citizenship
- Personal Social and Heath Education
- Home Economics
Pilot projects in Education for Employability, Citizenship, and Personal Social and Heath Education are currently running in Northern Ireland Schools to help with the smooth introduction of these new areas. Both Entry level and GCSE Learning for Life and Work qualifications are being piloted this year.
Aspects of Learning for Life and Work will become part of the statutory curriculum from September 2006 onwards.
Media enquiries to Ruth Maguire on (028) 9026 1216, Mobile 07796947993. E mail rhmaguire@ccea.org.uk
ENDS
Note to Editors
CCEA is the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
CCEA places learners and those who have a concern for their educational and personal development at the forefront of its thinking. CCEA's mission is:
"To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised"
What we do
CCEA is a unique educational body in the UK , bringing together the three areas of curriculum, examinations and assessment.
Advising Government – on what should be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools and colleges.
Monitoring Standards – ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard.
Awarding Qualifications
– as Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages.
- CCEA also offers a range of Awards and Certificates in Education, Training and Skills (ACETS) targeted at learners who want to get
the knowledge, understanding and skills needed
to hit the ground running in the world of work.
