New approach to up-skilling needed

Ireland needs new approaches to dealing with the challenges of up-skilling those in the workplace, delegates at the annual Skillsnets conference were told yesterday.

Eoin O’Driscoll, chairman of the government-appointed Enterprise Strategy Group charged with industrial policy, said Ireland needed to change from a model that was “rigid, industrial-ised and problem centred and delivered at a time and pace to suit providers”, and move to a greater focus on learners.

“Key to this is the flexibility to deliver the learning any time, any place and at any pace.”