Urgent action is needed to deal with the UK’s digital skills crisis, warn MPs, or it risks damaging the country’s productivity and competitiveness. It is thought 12.6 million adults lack basic digital skills, while 5.8 million have never used the internet at all. “Stubborn digital exclusion and systemic problems” with education and training need to be urgently addressed, the report said. It urged the government’s digital strategy to be published without delay. The report found that: * 22% of IT equipment in
Schools should put a greater emphasis on teaching digital technology – as millions of jobs could be swept away by automation, says former education secretary Lord Kenneth Baker. Now chair of the Edge Foundation, Mr Baker says young people must be taught the skills for jobs of the future. He warned that many white collar and professional jobs will be under threat from artificial intelligence. “Jobs are being lost in professions we used to regard as careers for life.” Lord Baker has produced a
The Sutton Trust has reported that a UK graduate faces a higher amount of debt than their counterparts in the US, Australia and Canada. On average, after university fees have been raised to £9000 the total debt is £44,000. In other ‘English speaking countries’ the debt is lower from between £15,000 to £29,000. For instance, American graduates are charged £20,500, for students at public or private non-profit universities whilst Canadian counterparts have an average of £15,000 of debt. Along with
