Denham calls on employees to think again about Higher Education

Denham calls on employees to think again about Higher Education

LONDON, May 22, 2008/3mnewswire.org/ -- Today, John Denham will challenge millions of employees to grasp the opportunity to improve their job prospects and increase their earnings by taking one of the wide range of qualifications that higher education has to offer.

Speaking at the University of Southampton, the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills will highlight that, with six million adults of working age currently with only A-Levels or equivalent qualifications, there exists a large pool of untapped talent in the workforce which may benefit from higher education.

Recent research indicates that around four million adults would actively consider participating in higher education. Current estimates suggest that a university degree is worth well over £100,000 (after tax at today's prices) more than stopping at A-Levels.

The Government has already set out a range of policies to encourage more adults to consider higher education. These include the new 'University Challenge', which will give the chance for 20 towns or regions to develop new university centres or campuses over six years - allowing students to attend a local university offering flexible courses to meet their needs. In addition, DIUS will consult on a new right to request time to train, which will allow millions of employees to start a conversation with their employers about how they can become more productive members of staff and enjoy better career prospects.

John Denham, Universities Secretary said:

"DIUS' own recent research found that four million people are considering, or willing to consider participating in higher education. These are people who are likely to be already in work; they may have family commitments and perhaps missed out on the opportunity to go to university the first time around. There may be others who now consider, quite wrongly, that their time has passed.

"We are now giving them a second chance. I believe that every person who has the ability to go to university should also have the opportunity to do so. We must send out a clear message that it is not too late.

"And I believe that if we are to create the high-level skills base by 2020 that the UK needs, then we must aim to give those four million people who want to go to university the chance to get one of the increasingly wide range of qualifications that higher education has to offer."

As well as enabling people to meet their aspirations, raising the skills levels of the workforce is an economic imperative. If this country is to remain internationally competitive in the 21st century, we need 40 per cent of the working age population to have been through higher education by 2020 - up from 31 per cent today. Yet three-quarters of the people who will make up our workforce in 2020 have already left compulsory education.

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