And yet we all learn, all the time. Indeed, almost everybody is an expert on something, whether it be driving HGVs, knitting, soap operas, football, Italian cooking, roses, teenage fashions, the novels of Lord Archer or Terry Pratchett, or whatever. We learn almost without thinking, and certainly without resistance.

The problem, as Brian says, is motivation. Put learning in a work context and it becomes a duty, or a chore; something to be done to us, not by us. Overcoming that is a key challenge.

Most of the Government's initiatives are about the funding, setting up and supporting of institutions. In a sense that's inevitable; that's what governments do. But unless the fundamental underlying issues are addressed, no amount of institutional tinkering will solve the problem.

To be fair, the government's rhetoric recognises this. They are the first to say that what we need is a change in values; and that they, the Government, cannot do that alone. So the challenge comes back to us.

And our response? You might argue that we're too busy grappling with the day to day realities of balance sheets and marketing initiatives to bother with grand exhortations and global goals.

Yet the two are not incompatible. ODL QC, through the new standards, and our support for quality initiatives with the University for Industry, and elsewhere, is trying. RRC Business Training clearly have looked for opportunity and growth within that same national need and context. The challenge is there, for us all.