Nurturing tomorrow’s talent for Scotland’s future
If Scotland is to compete, and most importantly succeed, in the increasingly global marketplace then we must ensure that our young people have the skills and entrepreneurial spirit to create world-leading businesses.
Creating a world-class workforce and fostering an enterprise culture that will deliver innovation and future economic growth must be one of the Scottish Government’s key aims. To achieve this it is vital that we nurture talent of all ages in all our communities.
I believe that the Curriculum for Excellence is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to refocus education on the particular skills of each individual and to engender a more entrepreneurial attitude among our young people. I recently participated in the Business Education Excellence Group – one of a range of subject groups established by the Cabinet Secretary to consider what makes for excellence in subjects, and in skills development, across learning. This was a great opportunity to discuss what’s important for young people to learn in the 21st century and how teachers might develop their practices to make learning excellent.
Although we are right to be proud of the Scottish education system, we must not rest on our laurels. In many areas our children are falling behind their counterparts in other developed nations. Currently, about 16% of our 15 year olds struggle with reading. In Finland, the proportion is just 8%. We need to look at the successes of comparable countries and learn from them.
However, improving educational standards in our schools can only be part of the solution. We must also focus our attention, and resources, on early years education and ensuring effective collaboration between all the agencies involved in this crucial stage of learning.
There is considerable evidence that increasing the quality and equality of education at a young age is one of the most effective means of helping young people access Higher Education.
Nurturing the untapped potential of children living in some of our most deprived communities will help reduce social inequality and mitigate the disadvantages these young people face when first entering school.
I would also urge the Government to focus its attention on directing resources to skills and qualifications that the economy needs, maintaining bursaries that ensure further and higher education is available to those from low income backgrounds and by bringing sharper focus to the delivery of the practical skills that are demanded by business.
Businesses leaders have a vital role to play in this regard, under the auspices of local chambers of commerce and organisations such as the Institute of Directors Scotland, in providing invaluable mentoring to budding entrepreneurs. It is by sharing practical advice honed through years of experience that we can foster the entrepreneurial culture and skills set needed to create the next generation of world-leading business people.
David Watt, Executive Director, Institute of Directors Scotland
More information on the Excellence Groups and the published reports are available on the Curriculum and Assessment pages of the Scottish Government website.
5 comments
It is very good indeed to hear the support of David Watt and the Institute of Directors Scotland for the Renaissance in Scottish Education for which we are all working. One of the areas we must pursue, if we are to nurture the next generation for Scotland’s future, is our need to focus on the learning of languages. Dr Alasdair Allan, our new Minister for Learning and Skills, spoke very positively about this at the Scottish CILT Conference, which emphasised overall the scale of the challenges in changing mindsets about language learning. We have to face the fact that overall we are poor at languages and that our ignorance hampers our ability to engage internationally with the confidence that we can recognise business opportunities and manage risk. This is a hugely important agenda for our schools. We must include Mandarin in the suite of languages available in as many of our schools as possible, and we must start the introduction of languages at an early stage: in pre-school if we can. There is substantial evidence, demonstrated by Professor Antonella Sorace, that early hearing of other languages increases both the ease of learning them and cognitive ability generally. This must be a priority and in implementing the Donaldson Review, we must seek to tackle this issue as quickly as we can as well as in the longer term.
As a concerned parent and a businessman I would like to say I have no faith whatsoever in the curriculum for excellence. In the past Britain was among the top countries in the world for education. That system has now been so diluted as to prove almost useless. The standard of intelligence and ability of school leavers is now deplorable, I do see the logic in the idea behind the curriculum but feel that this idea may work well in higher education, it does not work in other areas. As a member of the CIPD I read an article in this months publication which suggested that companies are finding the standard of school leavers unacceptable and that many companies are having to invest in training staff in basic literacy and numeracy skills. I left school in the eighties and while there were a few students who did not learn as well as others they at least left with basic reading and writing skills.
In conclusion I hope that this post is preserved somewhere and brought out when it has been proved that the curriculum does not work and we move on to the next half brained scheme, I only hope that the generation who were ‘guinea pigs’ can achieve a productive life despite the limitations this will inevitably lead to.
Thanks for taking the time to visit Engage and comment. You raise concerns around literacy and numeracy levels amongst Scottish school leavers. While Scotland’s literacy rate is on a par with many of the world’s leading economies, we do know that more can be done. That is why Scottish Ministers, for the first time, have laid out a concerted plan of action aimed at improving literacy levels across the board from early years through to adulthood. Our Literacy Action Plan will ensure that literacy development is a key priority for our youngest children as they take their first steps into learning and throughout their time at school and beyond.
I am also firmly of the belief that Curriculum for Excellence will be of enormous help in supporting the development of all children’s literacy and numeracy skills. This is a view shared by many in the business community and I was pleased to see that the Institute of Directors in its manifesto for the 2011 Scottish elections welcomed Curriculum for Excellence “as a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to refocus education on the learner and their capacities”.
Under Curriculum for Excellence, all teachers have a responsibility for supporting literacy and numeracy as our children and young people progress through their school career. New units and National Qualifications will support the development of literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum. School reports for parents will include information on their child’s literacy achievements and parents will be encouraged to be involved in the literacy development of their children. And we will work with a range of partners and key stakeholders, including CBI Scotland, through our Standing Literacy Commission which will oversee delivery of our plan. A progress report will be provided to Parliament after three years.
I hope that the actions that I have outlined here will help reassure you that we are determined to drive up literacy and numeracy standards for all. For more information you wish to read our literacy and numeracy factfiles and other materials which can be accessed at the Parentzone (www.ltscotland.org.uk/parentzone) and Employers and Young People (www.employersandyoungpeople.org) websites.
Dr Alasdair Allan, Minister for Learning and Skills
Here’s an idea! Why don’t the kids learn to read and write at Primary School?
Of course Dr Allan’s line is the official one whereas John B’s is the actual experience of a growing number of parents and members of the business community
The Literacy Action Plan fails to allow for the reality of local Councils driving up classroom numbers at primary and secondary level, curring the number of LS and EAL specialists and hiding falling literacy / numercay behind the bland generalisations of CfE reporting.
To say that ‘many in the business community’ and ‘the Institute of Directors …welcomed Curriculum for Excellence’ is a contradiction in terms; it took no political genius to see which way the political tide was turning before the election and no business survives and thrives by criticising the biggest spenders in Scotland ie the Scottish Government.
If John B is reassured by the comments of the Minister then heaven help his business.