History to blame for lack of qualifications

One in six adults in Wales do not have any educational qualifications, according to recent figures from the Welsh Government. And the proportion is even higher some areas such as the south Wales valleys.

Commenting in the Western Mail on 12th November 2013, Victoria Winckler, Director of the Bevan Foundation, said the position is worse among older people because in the days when coal and steel were thriving in Wales qualifications were not essential for getting a job.

“It’s now an issue because qualifications in English and maths are virtually mandatory for the vast majority of jobs. There is a huge, overwhelming link between not having qualifications and unemployment and, if you do have a job, low income. 

“To leave school without qualifications is to be pretty well doomed to fail.”