Essential Skills Qualifications 'On A High'

The highest numbers of Essential Skills qualifications ever recorded have been made in NI.

The latest statistics show that, in the month of June, they were issued to learners with 6,759 qualifications being recorded, that's the highest number for any month on record.

The free training programme was originally launched by the Government in 2002 with more than 96,400 qualifications issued in Northern Ireland over the last nine years.

The Stormont Employment and Learning Minister, Dr Stephen Farry, said June's record figure shows the courses are more important now than ever.

"The achievement of these excellent results is down to the hard work and commitment of all those adults who have signed up for Essential Skills courses and gained a qualification.

"It is not always easy to return to study, but I hope that such achievements are found to be rewarding for each and every learner.

"The support that our learning and training providers bring to these individuals is instrumental in helping to set them on a path of further discovery and learning," he said.

The Minister continued: "The current economic conditions make it even more crucial that people have the literacy, numeracy and ICT skills they need for their working and home lives.

"Essential Skills qualifications provide skills which employers and society recognise as underpinning economic and social development.

"Evidence shows that when people have these skills it can improve outcomes in many areas of their lives, many of which are intangible, including greater self esteem and a growing sense of aspiration.

"However, there are also measurable results in terms of sustained employment, career progression and increased income," he said, noting that the Essential Skills Strategy - launched in 2002 - has helped to improve the life chances of thousands of learners and, in many cases, paved their way into work or improved their job prospects.

(BMcC/GK)