Learning

Background

The challenge of equipping people in the North East with the qualifications and skills needed to secure the region’s future prosperity is significant . We lag behind the rest of the country in terms of the level of qualifications held by people of working age. This deters investment, and harms individual lives by trapping people in low-paid, insecure employment.

The voluntary sector is good at re-engaging adults in learning, and helping them develop skills relevant to work. But we need to get ahead of the problem by making sure that young people from all backgrounds achieve their full potential. Across the region, the attainment gap that appears at age 7-11 between children from different backgrounds persists right through school and beyond. Philanthropic support can help poorer children succeed by providing additional support to make learning fun and raise levels of achievement, complementing the work done by schools themselves.