The education and skills sector will need to have substantial support if it is to help the county recover from the coronavirus outbreak, a report commissioned by a Newcastle organisation says.
The paper commissioned jointly by Newcastle’s NCFE and the Campaign for Learning says the economy could be 15% smaller and unemployment 1.5m higher by the time of the new academic year in September.
Many firms in the education and skills sector will have gone out of business by then, the report says, and they will have to deal with substantial demand from existing young people and the hundreds of thousands of people looking for new jobs.
The report’s authors have called on Ministers to have “a plan in place by June, ready for September”, saying that the Autumn Spending Review would be too late.
They argue that the current support for keeping businesses afloat will at some point have to move towards further and higher education, apprenticeships, job search and training for unemployed adults and maintenance support for adults still in work who want to retrain.
Report co-author Dr Susan Pember said: “This paper underlines the fact that there is no time to lose in addressing the challenges that the further education sector will face at the start of the new academic year.
“It isn’t designed to scare people, but by considering the worst-case scenario and potential remedies, we hope to spark further debate, get sector leaders, policymakers and influencers thinking about what comes next and frame priorities as we look to the future.”
NCFE chief executive David Gallagher said: “The COVID-19 crisis has had a profound impact on every aspect of life and every area of policy. The Government has rightly prioritised managing the immediate consequences in its response so far.
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“However, as things begin to return to a new normal, the whole of the FE sector will have a hugely important role to play in helping people to move forward successfully. Without a shift in how FE and training is delivered and funded, the sector will struggle to do so effectively.
“We are clear that business as usual will not be a viable option at the start of the next academic year. If we are to effectively support the needs of learners, providers and employers, we need a cross-departmental, holistic approach to policy making and this process must start now.
“If not, thousands of people will suffer through a lack of a clear route to gain the skills that are needed for a rapidly changing labour market.”
The report calls for new training programmes for young people to counter for the likely fall in apprenticeships, plus the re-introduction of the Education Maintenance Allowances to boost incomes of full-time students living in households suffering from the impact of COVID-19.
It also wants the removal of the cap on university places, subsidies for employers offering apprenticeships and the £600m National Skills Fund to be brought forward to help adults gain new skills.