Education for Engagement: Time to Rethink How Schools Can Shape Economic Engagement Opportunities for Students

Northern Ireland stands at a crossroads, a famous comment, often overplayed, overused and overemphasised. Having flagged the extent of not building policy that can have positive impact, education loomed large into view. The second largest budget, after Health, neither can be said to be delivering the outcomes we need.
 
With economic inactivity costing the economy up to £9 billion per year, we must ask difficult but necessary questions about our education system. Are we preparing our young people not just to pass exams, but to engage meaningfully with the world of work, training, and enterprise? Or are we inadvertently contributing to the very problem we seek to solve?
 
The answer may lie somewhere in between. But one thing is certain: the current trajectory of secondary education is not aligned with the economic needs of Northern Ireland or the potential of our young people. The default to reforming multiple sectors is not going to change the outcome, playing academic verses technical and vocational is not the answer, it is about rebuilding a sector around the learners needs.
 
The Disconnect: Curriculum vs Capability
For too long, the structure of secondary education has prioritised academic pathways, often at the expense of practical skills, vocational insight, and real-world readiness. This system suits some, but fails many, particularly those from lower-income backgrounds or with different learning styles. It's no coincidence that NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) rates remain stubbornly high among 16–24-year-olds.
 
Students disengage because what they learn feels irrelevant. They don’t see the connection between their maths lesson and a future in software engineering, or between their science class and a role in advanced manufacturing. And when they leave school, often without clear direction, they risk becoming part of the economic inactivity statistics we must do more to reduce.
 
Is Current Policy Helping?
The Department for Education has made strides, with programmes like Engage, Restart, and enhanced careers guidance. But these interventions often come too late, tacked on at Key Stage 4, when disengagement has already taken root. A sharper focus is needed at Key Stage 3 and transition years (14–16), when young people begin to shape their identity and ambition.
 
And while curriculum review and mental health support are welcome, the real test is whether these policies build bridges to the world beyond school gates.
 
A Better Path: Collaboration Is the Catalyst
The good news? The answers are already within reach—and Further Education (FE) colleges are key to unlocking them.
Imagine a system where 14-year-olds can sample real industries, where project-based learning is co-delivered with local employers, and where teachers partner with FE tutors to blend academic and vocational routes without stigma.
 
FE colleges have proven expertise in helping people transition into work. From digital apprenticeships to green skills bootcamps, they are agile, industry-facing and rooted in community need. But too often, they are an afterthought in policy design, when they should be front and centre.
 
What Could It Look Like?

• Early vocational taster programmes delivered jointly between schools and colleges
• Employer-led challenge weeks in curriculum time
• Flexible 14–19 pathways that allow for mixing GCSEs with BTECs, micro credentials, and work experience
• Incentives for schools to partner with FE providers, not compete with them

 
The Prize: Purpose, Progress, Productivity
A young person who understands their value and sees a future for themselves is less likely to become economically inactive. By realigning the education system to meet both learner potential and labour market need, we give young people the chance to thrive and Northern Ireland the workforce it needs to grow.
 
Let’s not wait for another generation to slip through the cracks. Let’s build a system where education ignites opportunity, not exclusion. It’s time the NI Executive, Education and Economy departments broke out of self-interest and protectionism to support schools, FE colleges, and employers to work in synergy for the future of our young people, and the prosperity of our economy. Pockets of this type of activity, working outside of the system are delivering, it now should be completely mainstream, ending the exam factory system of today.