Table 10 Labour Force by Educational levels. A special tabulation from the 1997 Labour Force Survey shows the following:Educational Level
Employed
Unemployed
Total
Primary
201,800
14.62%
45,100
28.33%
246,900
16.04%
Lower Secondary
335,100
24.29%
55,700
34.99%
390,800
25.39%
Upper secondary
443,000
32.11%
40,500
25.44%
483,500
31.42%
Third Level
396,400
28.73%
17,300
10.86%
413,700
26.88%
Other
3,500
0.25%
600
0.38%
4,100
0.27%
Total
1,379,800
100.00%
159,200
100.00%
1,539,000
100.0%
Source : Central Statistics Office Cork. 1997 Labour Force Survey (ILO basis)
It will be seen that just under 39% of those employed, and 63% of the unemployed, have not completed upper second level education. The National Employment Action Plan (1998) draws attention to the critical importance of providing a continuum of quality education and training from early childhood through to adulthood in order to promote employment and competitiveness. It refers to the need to promote a framework for lifelong learning which encourages individuals to access quality education and training on an ongoing basis, and looks to enterprises to invest in human capital development to meet new and rapidly changing needs. As economies become increasingly globalised and knowledge-based, the quality of a society's human capital becomes central in enhancing the competitive capability of the economy. The rapidity of technological change poses an increasing challenge of renewal, not only of school leavers, but of those in the workforce. The task of building and renewing the human capital resources of the society is a task not merely of upgrading the technical skills of the workforce, but also of addressing its social skills. Modern work practices stress concepts of worker participation, teamwork, multi-skilling, flexibility and self-management. Without investment in continuing education and training, the skills of the existing workforce will become obsolete as the pace of change in skill requirements continues to accelerate. Changes in initial education and training on their own will not resolve this. Approximately 80% of those now working will still be under 65 by the year 2010. (McIver, 1996) To date, apart from programmes specifically targeted at early school leavers and the unemployed, the task of Irish educational planning and resource allocation has been heavily directed to meeting the needs of the school-going population. National educational objectives tend to be set with regard to the school-going population only, rather than with regard to the society as a whole. While there is now an
Green Paper – Adult Education in an Era of Lifelong Learning
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