Schools should be on group

DUNDALK primary and secondary schools should be included on the Louth Economic Forum’s Education and Training Task Group, Sinn Fein councillor Anne Campbell has urged.

She made the suggestion to forum chairperson, Martin Cronin, when he gave a short presentation at Louth County Council’s monthly meeting.

Mr Cronin said the Education and Training Task Group was established by the LEF and it is chaired by PayPal’s events and communications specialist, Emer Higgins.

Membership of the task group includes representatives from education and training as well as industry and business sectors within County Louth. The purpose of the task group is to promote formal exchange of relevant information between the two sectors and to ascertain ways in which the sectors can be mutually supportive.

Cllr. Campbell suggested that representatives of Dundalk’s primary and secondary schools be considered for membership. She said: ‘One of the main points that has been made by industry coming to Dundalk, most notably by PayPal, is that there’s a deficit of foreign language skills in the local workforce. She asked him to consider having one or two reps from local primary and secondary schools on the group, as language skills need to be developed at a very young age and by the time young people get onto third level, few, if any, will take up a language then.’