High-quality, low-cost online courses could be used to shift schools away from being “exam factories” and help students keep pace with the threat of automation, according to a new report by the Institute of Directors.
The report argues that the internet allows schools to be more flexible and adapt learning towards “a future in which more and more work is taken over by robots or computers”.
“The cost savings, convenience and flexibility that online learning offers has the potential to revolutionise education provision, but only if businesses and the education sector work together to capitalise on the potential of computer-based teaching applications to support employees in their pursuit of lifelong learning,” the report said.
Last year the CBI’s director general also called for GCSEs to be scrapped and A-levels to be augmented by vocational courses.
The report also calls for new tax incentives to encourage people to return to education, and to make it easier for employers to invest in their staff.
