The Regional Skills Fora, led by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) aims to foster better engagement between the public education and training system, employers and other regional stakeholders, in order to build skills in regions across the country.
Skillnets has been appointed to the National Project Advisory Group, which will oversee the process of establishing the Fora. Steering groups for the Fora are now in place in six regions: the South-West, South-East, Mid-West, West, North-West and the North-East, and consultation is underway with local stakeholders. Skillnets is represented on each of these Skills Fora by a regionally based Skillnet network manager. Other participants include representatives from the further and higher education bodies in each region.
It is expected that the Fora will impact positively on Skillnets training networks by enabling networks to become more aware of skills development activity in their region and identify opportunities for promoting their activities. The Fora will also provide a valuable platform for networks to help shape, in collaboration with other regional stakeholders, the future direction of skills development in their region.
On a general level, the Fora will facilitate regular dialogue on labour market intelligence and skills supply data, which will inform the delivery of programmes by the education and training system. A key objective of the Fora is to help employers to understand and access the full range of services and supports available to them, and to establish and maintain connections between training providers and employers, enhancing progression routes for learners.
It is hoped that the Fora will ensure that future training provision is further aligned with the skills needs of the region, maximising the range of employment, career progression and entrepreneurship opportunities for learners in the region.
This article is from the Skillnets News September 2015 newsletter. Sign up for news updates here.
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