Hoe is het na 10/06 met Kennis en Innovatie?

Iedere politieke partij besteedt in het politieke programma op de één of andere manier aandacht aan de verbetering van de kwaliteit van het onderwijs in ons land. Variërend van het verbeteren van de werkomstandigheden van leerkrachten, ergo stemmentrekken door iedere partij, tot aan een meer ingrijpend onderwijsprogramma zoals D66 zich dat voorstelt. Maar aandacht voor Kennis en Innovatie, gerichte aandacht met een Strategisch Plan 'hoe dit op te pakken' in de komende 4 jaar, ontbreekt helaas.

Aandacht voor Kennis en Innovatie gaat dan ook veel verder. Het Onderwijs, van LO tot WO, legt daarvoor de basis, organisaties & ondernemingen dienen vervolgens dit stokje over te nemen zodat we kunnen gaan spreken van een leven lang leren,  kunnen gaan spreken van employability, van de beste Research & Development. Ons land is tenslotte nu nog vooral een Dienstenindustrie (nb; bij ongewijzigd beleid gaan we geruisloos over naar een Zorgindustrie), K&I spelen daarin een cruciale rol.

Business School INSEAD kwam vorig jaar met het, blijkbaar door onze politici nauwelijks gelezen, rapport "Who Cares? Who Dares? Providing the Skills for an Innovative and Sustainable Europe”, jammer. De COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION kwam deze week met het rapport "New Skills for New Jobs: the way forward". Dat rapport is net te laat voor onze verkiezingen, zo (b)lijkt.

Groot Brittannië is één van de weinige landen in de Wereld die in hun politieke besluitvorming een duidelijk(!) onderscheid hebben gemaakt tussen het reguliere Onderwijs en de verdere c.q. continue ontwikkeling van Kennis, Kunde & Innovatie (nb; de basis daarvoor werd gelegd in 2006 met het Leitch Review of Skill report). De Britten beschikken nu resp. over een Department for Education en een Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Waarbij bij de laatste eerst de nadruk ligt op Innovation and Skills en 'pas' daarna de logische gevolgen voor de Britse economie. Bij ons lijkt dat nu omgekeerd te zijn.

Los van dat alles, de Council of the European Union komt in haar rapport met de volgende dringende(!) aanbevelingen voor ontwikkeling van Kennis, Kunde & Innovatie:

"WE URGE THE MEMBER STATES TO

=> Invest in skills and encourage both companies and citizens to do so, including through financial and non-financial incentives; promote better use of skills within companies and public administrations, including through support for innovation; and modernise labour market institutions and training systems in support of these aims;

=> Modernise education and training systems in order to develop key competences, such as communication, maths, science and technology, ICT, learning to learn, social skills, entrepreneurship, intercultural knowledge, teamwork, flexibility and adaptation to change; recognise acquired competences, skills and knowledge and work experience; and promote lifelong learning;

=> Increase flexibility of education and training programmes in order to match education and training better to the needs of the labour market, both in emerging and fast-growing sectors and in established sectors, including social, green and white (care and healthcare) sectors and self-employment; promote the development of national qualification frameworks, within quality assurance and accreditation systems and paying particular attention to the qualifications acquired through work experience;

=> Further develop the links between the education and training and the labour market, to improve the transition from education to work and to reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET). This includes close and effective partnerships between education and training institutions and public and private employers and, as appropriate, their sectoral representatives;

=> Promote the status of vocational education and training, and promote increased vocational training in companies, bearing in mind the specific needs of SMEs and the importance of developing high-quality apprenticeships and other training programmes in sectors of future growth, including the green and white economies;

=> Promote the participation of the younger and older generations as well low-skilled and other disadvantaged groups in the labour market, with specific policies to improve their skills and qualifications;

=> Support the autonomy of each person in access to lifelong learning and employment, including access to relevant labour market information (vacancies, skills needs) and social services such as child and elderly care; tailored guidance and counselling play an important role, including in combating gender stereotypes, which are strong barriers to gender equality in learning, employment and other activities;

=> Further develop the recognition of non-formal and informal learning to improve access to employment and mobility;

=> Enhance the role of Public Employment Services as sources of information on labour supply and demand and required skills and qualifications, as well as in the delivery of efficient active labour market policies. Public Employment Services should work in partnership with the full range of stakeholders to build up a network with a comprehensive and shared vision of the labour market;

=> While taking into account the specific competencies of actors in both the education and employment sectors, continue to assess the effectiveness of education and training systems, including their interaction with labour market needs, and disseminate the results of these assessments through, inter alia, the appropriate mechanisms of the European Employment Strategy;

=> Take account of, and where appropriate involve, the social partners in the process of adapting education and training to the needs of the labour market, in particular through social dialogue;

=> Open up the education and training sectors and make them more flexible, by assisting educational and training institutions to be more innovative and receptive to the needs of the labour market and by increasing their capacity to offer attractive and high-quality lifelong learning to all."

Het zijn belangrijke, zoals gezegd zelfs 'urgente', maatregelen die nu genomen dienen te worden in het belang vande economische toekomst van de EU, de toekomst van de inwoners van ons land. Deze maatregelen mogen, bij het negeren ervan, niet zonder politieke gevolgen zijn!

Wellicht kan de formateur Kennis & Innovatie alsnog op de Politieke Agenda zetten van het nieuwe Kabinet..... 'T zou mooi, zelfs dringend noodzakelijk, zijn.