News: From the boardroom to the classroom

A new top-level Employer Taskforce has been launched by the Government to spearhead a fresh drive to boost education by bringing more business expertise into the classroom. The new taskforce, will have senior business figures including representatives from CBI and the Chamber of Commerce and will be set up with at least £1.5m of Government funding over three years. The focus will be on a range of priorities including improving literacy and numeracy in primary schools and making enterprise education more effective. The initiatives follow key recommendations made by the National Council for Educational Excellence (NCEE), set up by the Prime Minister, to look at how businesses and universities can work with schools and colleges to achieve educational excellence, building on existing good work. Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said: "I have seen all around the country brilliant examples of businesses working with schools raising aspirations and making education come to life. This taskforce will help get every school and business involved. "I am incredibly grateful to the firms and individuals supporting children and young people. Inspiring young minds is very rewarding and the employees who actually go into schools will soon realise the enormous boost they can get both personally and professionally by sharing their knowledge with young people."

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