UUP's Carmichael calls for increased support for lifelong learning to boost farming sector

Mr Robert Carmichael, the East Londonderry Ulster Unionist Party Association Chairman, has said the association will be campaigning for the Stormont Executive to invest more in encouraging people to return to education through the concept of lifelong learning; a move, the UUP is convinced, will “ultimately be a tremendous boost for the long-term future of the agricultural community”.

   Mr Carmichael, in a major UUP association policy statement on farming in the East Londonderry constituency, said if Northern Ireland companies, and especially within the agricultural sector, were to meet the challenges of an increasingly global market, they needed employees who were both skilled and adaptable. 

   Mr Carmichael said: “If we are to successfully compete with the economies of the other European nations as well as those from the Far East, we need to ensure that the basic skills of our workers are equal to, if not better than these rival countries. 

   “The only way this can be effectively achieved is by ensuring that all our people are given the opportunities for personal development. Adults returning to the classroom or a learning environment should not be seen as an educational stigma, but should be viewed as part of everyday life.

   “To ensure that our economy in Northern Ireland can compete competently with our commercial rivals, we need to significantly increase adult participation in vocational education and training with greater access to further and higher education. This is a major area we in the East Londonderry UUP will be campaigning for,” said Mr Carmichael.

   The UUP association chairman added that at the same time, there was a real need to “radically address” the problem of university fees, which were creating a “pay as your learn” mentality in society.

   Mr Carmichael added: “How can we have an effectively trained and educated workforce if access to higher education places is dictated, not by ability, but by the amount of cash you can pay? Education and training for everyone should be an essential provision in any democratic society.

   “The only way to guarantee that we have a skilled workforce capable of maintaining our economy is to provide greater access to training and staff development. It is not good enough to train someone and then leave them with few opportunities to update those skills.”

   Mr Carmichael said it was necessary to create an education system capable of helping everyone, irrespective of age or ability. He said the East Londonderry UUP association was challenging the Stormont Executive  to be “fully committed to lifelong learning and that it would be effectively funded rather than placated by political rhetoric”.