British Premier Boris Johnson’s promised Skill ‘revolution’ will , without a shadow of doubt, prepare the UK to be fit enough to play a major role in the global affairs rightly envisaged as the Global Britain.
Equipping the work force with skills required would be a far-sighted step in the right direction making a talented work force besides changing the migration policy to enable the UK to quickly acquired skilled labour in the nature of professionals who are needed to keep abreast with the industry requirements.
According to Boris Johnson, skills “revolution” for England, loans will be granted for adults wanting to retrain and there will be more powers to deal with failing colleges.
PM will introduce these measures in Queen’s Speech, which introduces the government’s programmes and plans for the next year. Plans are afoot also to overhaul the asylum system and reform planning laws in England.
The government states that its main focus is on assisting the nation’s recovery from the pandemic as the economy shrank by 9.9% last year.
In the speech, written by ministers and delivered by the monarch, government will reveal plans to bring in a “lifetime skills guarantee”.
Lifetime skills guarantee
According to the master plan all adults would be allowed to obtain a “flexible loan” for higher-level education and training at university or college, “useable at any point in their lives”.
The loans would avail them of the opportunity to be used to cover the expenses up to four years’ study and could also be used finance full-time or part-time courses.
Businesses and trainers will be encouraged to go into partnerships to meet “local needs in sectors including construction, digital, clean energy and manufacturing”.
The education secretary will also be given “more powers” to deal with colleges that “fail to meet local needs”.
Premier Johnson said: “These new laws are the rocket fuel that we need to level up this country and ensure equal opportunities for all. We know that having the right skills and training is the route to better, well-paid jobs.
“I’m revolutionising the system so we can move past the outdated notion that there is only one route up the career ladder, and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to retrain or upskill at any point in their lives.”
The government will introduce the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill – detailing the plans – next week.
Among other things, the Queen’s Speech has a list of proposed legislation for the next parliamentary session. Ministers have suggested to revamp the social care system.
This year’s speech will include envisaged changes to the policing of protests that include setting time and noise limits. It also expected to contain a bill restricting the future prosecution of British soldiers fought in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
Another important bill is a Sovereign Borders Bill with the intention of dissuading asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel. Government would introduce a ban on so-called conversion therapy; the therapy is to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. However, the bill will be preceded by a public consultation.
A voter ID will be introduced for future general elections. Some of the Bills include features such as legally binding environmental targets, while a planning bill is expected to ease controls in England and increase housebuilding.
Noteworthy is the fact that all these proposed Bills will fulfil requirements for the Britain to play its global role and to carve out its position on the world’s stage as a countervailing power.
Does it matter?
Why the developments in the UK matter to us in the Commonwealth? Since the UK was unfettered from the tariff shackles of the EU and other regulations, the UK is, apparently, on a mission to rekindle bilateral and multilateral trading relations with the nations of the Commonwealth.
It is obvious that the Commonwealth, being a block of English speaking nations, would be a major source of skilled labour to the UK and stand to benefit from the envisaged changes that the UK will bring in to its migration policy and legislature.
These seminal developments currently taking place in the UK will reconfigure its major policies and equipped her with much-needed skilled labour to meet the future challenges.
