Nationale Skills Strategy 2025

1. National Skills Strategy
2025
Mary Doyle, Deputy Secretary General
Department of Education and Skills

2. Introduction
 New National Skills Strategy 2025 - Ireland’s Future
 Published in January 2016, the Strategy sets out the Government’s commitment to
improving and using skills for sustainable economic growth, to develop a well-skilled,
adaptable workforce that contributes to, shares in and benefits from opportunities of
economic expansion.
 It is about
 Improving people’s lives
 Making Ireland a better place to live and work
 Driving sustainable economic growth
View Strategy online at:
http://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/National-Skills-Strategy/National-Skills-Strategy.html

3. Context for development of the strategy
 Ireland’s economy is recovering
 Over 1.9m people in work (70% male/58% female)
 Less than 9% unemployment (down from high of 15% in 2011)
 Youth unemployment 19.7%
 Long term unemployment down from 6.4% to 5%
 56,000 new jobs created (between Q3 2014 and Q3 2015)
 Largest employment increase in Construction(+13.3%) and Industry (+5.7%) sectors
 Skills shortages emerging in some areas (ICT, Engineering, Financial Services, Health)
 Education
 1 million full-time learners,
 173,000 full-time and over 38,000 part time students in higher education
 Full-time enrolment in HE has grown by 30% in past 9 years – expected to increase by 30% over the
next 15 years
 Strong focus in recent years on training for the unemployed and school leavers

4. National Skills Strategy: Vision
Ireland will be renowned at home and abroad as a place where the talent of our
people thrives through:
 The quality and relevance of our education and training base, which is
responsive to the changing and diverse needs of our people, society and the
economy;
 The strength of relationships and transfer of knowledge between employers,
education and training providers, and all sections of society, and the resulting
impact on how people are prepared for life and work;
 The quality of our workforce – a nation of people armed with relevant
knowledge, entrepreneurial agility and analytical skills;
 The effective use of skills to support economic and social prosperity, and to
enhance the well-being of our country;
 The effective use of technology to support talent and skills provision, to grow
enterprise, and to enhance the lives of all within society.

5. National Skills Strategy: Objectives
1. Education and training providers will place a stronger focus on providing skills
development opportunities that are relevant to the needs of learners, society and
the economy.
2. Employers will participate actively in the development of skills and make effective
use of skills in their organisations to improve productivity and competitiveness.
3. The quality of teaching and learning at all stages of education will be continually
enhanced and evaluated.
4. People across Ireland will engage more in lifelong learning.
5. There will be a specific focus on active inclusion to support participation in
education and training and the labour market.
6. We will support an increase in the supply of skills to the labour market.

6. Key Action: Developing 21st Century Skills
 The Skills Strategy focuses on the development of 21st Century skills at all levels of education
& training: a strong mix of transversal skills and subject knowledge.
 Focus on transversal skills is in conjunction with aim to provide most up-to-date and relevant
subject knowledge so that students emerge as rounded and well equipped as possible
 The Strategy acknowledges that transversal skills are increasingly important in enabling
people to gain and maintain employment and for enterprise
 Particular focus in the Strategy on three key transversal skills: ICT skills, language
proficiency and entrepreneurship. These are seen as critical to employability, personal
development and civic participation
 Also a strong focus on employer participation in development relevant skills: through work
placement, course design etc

7. Developing 21st Century Skills in Higher
Education Institutions
 5 Universities have completed or are carrying out university-wide initiatives explicitly
addressing graduate outcomes in terms of skills
 Dublin City University: Generation 21 aims to shape graduates into well-rounded individuals,
ready to make an impact on the workforce
 Key skills and competencies identified in conjunction with industry:
 Creative and Enterprising,
 Solution-Oriented,
 Effective Communicators,
 Globally Engaged,
 Active Leaders,
 Committed to Continuous Learning
http://www.dcu.ie/generation21/index.shtml

8. Development of Analytical Skills in
Higher Education Institutions
Most common approach is through the use of Problem Based Learning
 Real world project modules, which provide participants with real/live industry
projects in order to develop discipline specific skills and multi-disciplinary skills
 Product design in IT Carlow and University of Limerick: final year projects are based on
industry specific requests
 Structured work based learning modules including work placement modules
 Usually in 3rd year of a programme
 4 to 12 month duration
 UCC work placement model: structured pre-planning (Year 1: CV and skills
development advice; Year 2: guidance workshops for self-development; Year 3:
employers recruit students for available placement)

9. Development of Analytical Skills in
Higher Education Institutions
Problem Based Learning, continued:
 Use of incubator and business start up programmes which provide mentoring
and support to both student and other participants in the development of new
technology and enterprise
 All HEIs have incubation and enterprise support facilities and programmes funded
by Enterprise Ireland and other organisations.
 Use of theoretical and practical syllabi which are based on known problems
and their associated solutions – students are coached in how to apply
discipline specific analytical real world problem solving skills

10. Advantages of Problem Based Learning
 Exposure to and understanding of real world problems and how to deal with
them in a critical and systematic way
 Potential for working on live projects – increases confidence of participants
 Exposure to external expertise and their associated skills and knowledge base
 Potential to be involved in the creation of new knowledge while developing
analytical skills

11. Thank You
Contact Details: MaryR_Doyle@education.gov.ie