Andy Burnham's youth employment plan has overlooked one big thing

For too long, practical and vocational routes have been treated as secondary to traditional academic subjects, despite giving pupils the skills, confidence and experience they need to build successful careers.

But something is missing from the policy: If technical education is about preparing pupils for the modern workplace, why has nobody mentioned digital literacy?

Digital literacy is one of the most important technical skills young people can learn, so as technology becomes embedded in virtually every profession, our definition of technical skills needs to evolve alongside it.

Today, almost every career requires some level of digital competence. Whether a young person becomes an engineer, nurse, builder, accountant, designer or teacher, they will be expected to use digital tools, handle information responsibly, communicate online and make sound judgements about the content they see and share.

That goes far beyond being able to use a device or complete a task online. Young people need to understand how digital environments work. They need to be able to question information, recognise manipulation, protect personal data, report harmful content and use emerging technologies such as AI safely and responsibly. This is where digital citizenship becomes essential: the ability to live, behave and participate well online. It means helping young people understand not just how to use digital tools, but how their choices and conduct affect themselves and others in digital spaces.

They also need to understand the permanence of digital records. The content young people create, share or engage with online can follow them into later life, with potential implications for their reputation, safety and employability.

As AI becomes part of education and work, teaching pupils about it is valuable, but it cannot sit in isolation. Young people need the critical thinking skills to spot inaccurate, misleading, biased or artificially generated content, and to understand how algorithms shape what they see online.

For this generation, the digital world is not separate from real life. Children learn, socialise, shop, bank, apply for jobs and increasingly work online. The education system needs to reflect that reality.

This is also a safeguarding issue as much as an employability one.

The online risks facing children are evolving quickly. Misinformation, harmful communities, AI-generated abuse material and sophisticated manipulation can all reach young people in spaces that feel familiar and trusted. Children need more than occasional warnings about online safety. They need practical, age-appropriate digital literacy throughout their education.

Schools have a vital role to play, but they cannot carry this responsibility alone. Parents, carers, educators, technology providers and government all have a part to play in creating a consistent safety net around young people. The message children receive at school needs to be reinforced at home and supported by the right tools, training and guidance.

Technical education should not just be about specific trades, industries or equipment. It should help young people develop the judgement, confidence and resilience to thrive in modern digital environments that are changing faster than any curriculum can be rewritten.

Today's announcement is a positive move towards a more practical and relevant education system. The next step is to make sure digital literacy receives the attention it deserves as a fundamental skill for life, work and safety.

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Gabi Walshaw is VP of Product for Early Detection & Intervention at Smoothwall.

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