'Greater say for employers on education'

A major government report on UK skills released tomorrow is expected to call for employers to have a greater say on the education system, provided they invest in training their own workforce.

The report by Lord Leitch will warn that the UK is in danger of falling behind internationally because of shortages of highly skilled and educated workers and will call on the government to invest in high-level training and life-long learning.

“The life of some IT skills is measured in months not years. People need to be able to continually upgrade their skills. That is the bit where the UK is totally uncompetitive,” said Philip Virgo, strategic adviser to the Institute for the Management of Information Systems.

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