By Saul Cooke-Black
NEIL Carmichael has revealed details of a major inquiry started by MPs into school productivity and technical skills.
Mr Carmichael, the newly-elected chairman of the Commons Education Committee, told The Independent on Sunday that schools needed to place more emphasis on workplace skills.
“We have been a bit too complacent about taking the necessary action to tackle the problem,” said the Stroud MP.
“Don’t get me wrong – academic education is important. But whenever we have reformed education we haven’t quite delivered what we expected."
He added: “The 1944 Education Act saw three types of schools – grammar, secondary modern and technical schools – but by 1959, only two to three per cent of any year group could get a technical education.”
The inquiry will be a joint investigation with the Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, and will examine why the UK is falling behind other countries in developing workplace skills.
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