This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Review of Enterprise in Education
17/12/2002
A new report published today -
Determined to Succeed: A Review of Enterprise in
Education - makes 20 recommendations aimed at
transforming the level of business involvement in
schools.
Launching the report at the ScottishPower PowerBase at
St Paul's RC High School in Glasgow, Deputy Education
Minister Nicol Stephen said more needed to be done to
prepare young people for the world of work and to help
create a more entrepreneurial culture.
He argued that a major expansion of links between
schools and businesses was vital to the creation of a more
successful and prosperous Scotland.
The report's recommendations - the result of 12 months'
work by a review group led by Mr Stephen - include:
- the development of 2000 partnership agreements
between schools and businesses by 2006
- an enterprise in education champion in each of the
main business organisations, including the CBI, the
Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of
Small Businesses
- a work-based vocational learning opportunity for
every pupil over the age of 14
- an enterprise development officer to co-ordinate
the expansion of enterprise in education activities in
every school cluster
- pupils of all ages to receive appropriate
enterprise in education opportunities - from P1 to
S6.
Mr Stephen said:
"To create a more successful and enterprising Scotland
we need young people who are determined to succeed.
"That means making certain they have high quality
skills, real experience of business and, most important of
all, an entrepreneurial approach to everything they do. We
need to see a culture change in Scotland.
"Scotland needs more young people who want to set up new
businesses and make them grow. They need the confidence and
self-belief to take appropriate risks.
The Scottish economy needs talented individuals with a
broad range of skills - and that must include more skilled
tradespeople, such as plumbers and electricians.
"The review group believes that none of this can be
achieved without a change in culture - a culture in which
young people are determined to succeed and have the right
skills to succeed. Schools and businesses need to work more
closely together.
A partnership approach offers pupils the best
opportunity to develop an understanding of the world of
enterprise."
The report sets out a range of proposals for ensuring
enterpreneurial and vocational learning is central to every
pupil's education.
It calls on the business community to take the lead both
nationally and locally. It also highlights the need for
enterprise in education to play a bigger part in the
training and professional development of teachers.
The recommendations call for national initiatives led by
the business community, working along with the Scottish
Executive, Learning and Teaching Scotland, Her Majesty's
Inspectorate of Education and Careers Scotland.
Mr Stephen concluded:
"Taken together, these proposals offer an unprecedented
opportunity for Scotland's economic future. It is vital
that we develop more positive attitudes among young people
towards the world of enterprise. The report's aim is to
help deliver the change needed to contribute to a more
enterprising culture in Scotland and to greater economic
success in global markets."
The remit of the Review of Education for Work and
Enterprise was "to assess the effectiveness of education
for work and enterprise in schools, in preparing young
people for the world of work and encouraging an
enterprising culture in later life; and to examine the
scope to improve education for work and enterprise in fully
supporting Scotland's priorities for education, and its
economic success".
The review group included individuals from business,
education and support agencies and met nine times between
September 2001 and September 2002. They also took part in a
substantial number of sub-group visits and
evidence-gathering sessions. The full membership is:
Nicol Stephen, Deputy Education Minister (Chair)
Per Arno, Satrosphere, Aberdeen
Alex Blackwood, Careers Scotland
David Ennis, Oki
Peter Galloway, Trinity Academy
Lynn Hendry, Young Enterprise Scotland
Tom Hunter, Sponsor of Enterprise Education
Myra Macpherson, Balbardie Primary
John Mulgrew, ADES
Charles Skene, Sponsor of Skene Awards
Denis Stewart, Learning and Teaching Scotland
The Executive will make a formal response to the report
in the New Year.