Debate on the Address

My Lords, I feel it proper on this occasion of my first contribution in the House to place on record my gratitude and thanks to your Lordships and all officers and staff of this House for the kindness, consideration and assistance I have received since my arrival. I also include my sponsors, my noble friend Lord Molyneaux of Killead and the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock, for being courageous enough to sponsor me. I assure the House that my appreciation is sincere. I suspect that I have a lot of learning ahead of me as I seek to familiarise myself with the workings of this House. Having served in local government in Northern Ireland for more than 30 years, a period of time that coincides with what is euphemistically called ““the troubles””, I want to pay tribute to all the innocent victims who lost their lives during this torturous and agonising period in our history. Of course, I am acutely aware that any words I might use in such a tribute will fall far short of what should be said. Right across the religious divide in Northern Ireland, too many were innocent victims of an awful onslaught. To their surviving family members, I sincerely say that the price your loved ones have been forced to pay cannot be repaid, but their illustrious memory must and, I pray, will live on and never be forgotten. We are told that progress is being made in Northern Ireland to find a way forward to establish a democratic form of government. However, the question being posed today is whether this is another false dawn or indeed the sunrise to a bright new future for the next generation. Only time will tell. It has been well said that: "““True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgement of what was done wrong””." I have little doubt that the way forward will be fraught with difficulties. I have been well warned that my first contribution should be non-controversial, and I will make an honest attempt to comply with convention. Someone said: "““The youth of a nation are the trustees of posterity””." However, I am confident that the prospects of our www generation, so used to being a mere click away from instant knowledge and solutions, can be measured by the potential of our education system. We are truly blessed in Northern Ireland with an abundance of schools, colleges and universities that are some of the finest in the United Kingdom. It is heartening to note that our education and training policies are inspiring similar approaches in Scotland, Wales and, more recently, England. Indeed, among the unsung heroes of our troubled past have been our classroom teachers, college lecturers and courageous principals. Together they have resolutely safeguarded our schools and further education colleges as neutral havens of learning, as free from prejudice as they were from the onslaught of educational experimentation. The quality of teachers, managers and governors right across our education galaxy, from nursery and primary schools to post-primary, further and higher education, is second to none. They can be rightly proud of their achievements. The success of our learners in public examinations is better than ever and certainly stronger than in many other regions of the United Kingdom. However, I have been even more impressed by the extent to which our young people leaving schools and further education colleges are confident in themselves, positive about their futures, aware of the importance of lifelong learning, interested in the world about them and keen to contribute to society in Northern Ireland. Despite the substantial successes of our education and training system, especially among our able and not-so-able learners, I am keenly aware that the gap between those achieving the highest and lowest levels of attainment is unacceptably wide, as was highlighted in the chief inspector’s last report. Low and under achievement, particularly among young males, and the need to ensure that all school leavers and trainees are numerate, literate and have the necessary employability skills, remain major challenges for our schools and colleges. Let us pause and reflect on the enormous challenge that we have set for those who lead, manage and teach in our education system to provide the bedrock for mutual respect and a prosperous economy, so richly deserved and needed after three dark decades of violence, misery and division. Peace and prosperity are but two sides of the same coin and our Northern Ireland economy has much to catch up with. Schools and colleges have been challenged to go beyond their traditional remits to instil a love of learning in our young people and equip them with the necessary nationally recognised qualifications that will ensure their onward progression to university, college, and/or the world of work. Now they are being asked to be the guarantors not only of social mobility but also of social cohesion in an increasingly diverse society and to be the suppliers and drivers of a dynamic new knowledge economy. Much of our future indigenous economic success will depend on the synergy and partnerships between our public and private sectors. We are asking our large and small employers to speak up through their respective sector skills councils to influence the design and content of our professional and technical qualifications and to determine training needs within their respective industries, committing themselves to genuine collaboration and partnership through sector skills agreements. Key public agencies, employers of all sizes in our private, public and voluntary sectors, schools, FE colleges, universities, training providers, trades unions and individuals all have a specific and necessary role to play to underwrite the networks of stakeholder partnerships that will be so vital to securing future economic growth and prosperity. In particular, I commend to the House the innovative vocational enhancement programme that promotes collaborative working between our schools and further education colleges. This integral partnership within our education system will be further enhanced next year with the planned introduction of a statutory entitlement framework and the development within our post-primary schools of a more skills-focused curriculum. Our further education sector, one of the brightest gems in our education crown, is already transforming its mission and structure to deliver a much more economically focused curriculum together with a more coherent sectoral approach to the demands of employers and industry. The Northern Ireland further education sector, often overshadowed by its neighbour in higher education, is to be commended for its unique contribution to the promotion of lifelong learning, good relations and cultural diversity in Northern Ireland, as well as for being the key driver for local, sub-regional and regional economic development.