you are here: home » media centre » media releases
NCPP and NCI Call for Greater Focus on Learning at Work
- ‘Quantum leap’ required to prioritise workplace learning
- ‘Zero room’ for complacency
- Innovative case studies profiled
Dublin, 15 May 2008 -- The skills challenge facing the Irish economy was the subject of a major Seminar in Dublin today (Thursday, 15th May), organised jointly by the National College of Ireland (NCI) and the National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP).
The ‘Learning At Work’ Seminar was addressed by a high-level panel of senior policymakers and academics, including Seán Haughey, TD, Minister for Lifelong Learning at the Department of Education and Science, Leo Casey of the Centre for Research and Innovation in Learning and Teaching, Professor Chip Bruce, NCI, and Lucy Fallon-Byrne, NCPP.
The Seminar also showcased four national initiatives that have been designed to promote and encourage learning at work, providing the 100-plus delegates with real-life examples of innovative responses to the future skills challenge.
The promotion of greater levels of workplace learning is embedded in Government policy as a key strategic objective of the National Skills Strategy, the National Workplace Strategy and Towards 2016, in acknowledgement of the fact that growing the skills and knowledge base of the Irish workforce will have a huge bearing on our future prosperity.
Among the issues discussed at today’s Seminar were:
- The role of workplace learning in driving and growing the Irish economy;
- The opportunities for, and obstacles to, workplace learning that exist in Ireland today; and
- Effective ways of engaging employers and employees to ensure Ireland is equipped for the future skills challenge.
NCPP Director Lucy Fallon-Byrne, who chaired the Seminar, commented:
“In an increasingly competitive and globalised economic environment, the provision of innovative learning opportunities is absolutely critical to the transformation of our workplaces into high-performing, high-quality places of work. We have seen many good examples today of how such learning initiatives can help to drive productivity and performance, but we have also seen that these crucial opportunities are denied to many Irish employees. What’s required now is nothing less than a quantum leap - by Government, employers, unions and employees - to build on the progress made to date.”
National College of Ireland president Paul Mooney said:
“The message today is simple. For Ireland Inc. to succeed, the barriers to workplace learning must be identified and systematically removed. To survive and prosper in a tougher global environment, we need to collectively up our game to out-think the competition. The highest performing companies of the future are the ones that are becoming engaged in workplace learning initiatives today. The time is now and there is zero room for complacency on this. The future is decided by those that sense change and actually start to do something to respond to this. For everyone else, the timebomb is ticking.”
Minister Haughey was also on hand to launch a new NCPP DVD* profiling the practical experiences of five Irish public and private-sector organisations** that have recognised and embraced workplace learning as an enabler of change. Their stories illustrate the value of promoting human talent and creativity in the workplace, and make a powerful business case for lifelong learning and workplace training and development.
* Copies of the 'Workplace Learning in a Knowledge Society' DVD are available, free of charge, on request from the NCPP - info@ncpp.ie
**123.ie, Abbott Ireland, Dublin City Council, Masonite Ireland and St James’s Hospital (Dublin)
* * * * * * * *
Note to Editors:
National College of Ireland (NCI)
NCI has been shaping the world of work and business for well over half a century. Evolving with the changing employment landscape, we have built a reputation for designing programmes that are relevant to the workplace. We are committed to advancing knowledge in our specialist areas and offer a range of flexible part time and evening courses in business, human resources, finance, computing and community studies. All courses are accredited and delivered from our state-of-the-art IFSC campus and across a network of 30 regional centres. The college's Centre for Research and Innovation in Learning and Teaching is concerned with the investigation and development of new approaches to technology enhanced learning in the workplace and other contexts. For more, please see www.ncirl.ie
National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP)
The NCPP was established by Government in 2001 to promote and facilitate partnership-led change and innovation in Ireland’s workplaces. By helping to transform our workplaces into Workplaces of the Future, the NCPP’s objective is to create high-performance, high-quality places of work, thereby contributing to national competitiveness, enhanced public services, higher standards of living and a better quality of life for employers and employees alike. The NCPP was placed on a statutory footing in 2007, as part of the new National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO). For more, please see www.ncpp.ie and www.workplacestrategy.ie
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Emma Kytzia
PR Executive
National College of Ireland
Tel: (01) 449 8652 / (086) 048 5158
Conor Leeson
Head of Communications
NCPP
Tel: (01) 814 6398 / (086) 211 9511
DOWNLOAD:
To view/download a copy of this Media Release in .pdf format, please click here.
Latest News
- No news found.