Business dissatisfied with quality of school leavers: CBI

There is growing dissatisfaction with the quality of school leavers among British businesses and one-in-three firms have to give training to compensate for failures in the education system, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has claimed.

According to an annual CBI-Pertemps employment trends survey, 37% say they are not satisfied with the basic literacy and numeracy of school leavers – an increase of 3% on 2003.

The latest figures suggest that employers spend over £23 billion each year on training - much of which is being spent ironing out basic problems which should have been resolved by state education, the CBI said.

The survey of over 500 companies, which is due for release next month, also showed that 41% of firms were not satisfied with school leavers' business awareness and 46% were not satisfied with their self-management skills.

Employers also fear that government proposals to reform radically the education system will distract attention from the key task of improving young people's skills.

CBI Director-General Digby Jones said that young recruits must be able to hit the ground running in today's fast-moving business environment.

"Too many school leavers are failing to make the business grade. A fundamental working knowledge of English and Maths provides a vital foundation for every day-to-day business task. But the education system is letting down many young people and leaving them unprepared for the world of work," he said.

"Employers are left to pick up the pieces and the bill, with many resorting to basic training to compensate for the short-comings of an education system that they have already paid for through increased business taxation."

(gmcg)