Children: Development of Essential Skills
Debate between Claire Hazelgrove and Peter Swallow(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered Government support for children developing essential skills.
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I start by declaring that I am chair of the all-party parliamentary groups for schools, learning and assessment; on social mobility; and for classics. It is wonderful to see so many young people in the Public Gallery.
We are facing a generational moment. We know the risks that technology and artificial intelligence increasingly pose to our world, but we also know the opportunities. It strikes me that it is up to us to shape a generation that responds to these challenges not with despondency, but with the confidence and authority to make these tools work for humanity, not against it. Without the human skills to properly engage with, discuss and question the world around us, we are setting our children up for failure.
Claire Hazelgrove (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Lab)
As the former vice-chair of the APPG on financial education for young people, I really welcome the Government’s work on that issue, including the commitment to introduce it more firmly in the national curriculum for all ages. Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be helpful were the Minister, in her summing up, to provide us with an update on the work to get that ready for young people in the years to come?
Peter Swallow
Absolutely. I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. I am aware that the financial strategy sits with the Treasury but, like many of the tasks that face this Government, there must be a cross-Department approach. It is really important that all Departments grapple with the need to deliver better skills for our young people, and I am sure that the Minister has heard my hon. Friend’s request.
Today, when it has never been easier for young people—I should add that it is not just young people—to be misled by mis- and disinformation, and to be sucked in by algorithms and harmful content on social media that comforts them with easy answers in a complex world, essential skills have never been more crucial. I am thinking of skills such as being able to think critically, communicate and reason; having the confidence in ourselves to form opinions; and, above all, having the resilience and will to engage with the world in all its complexities, rather than turn away from it.