This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New Institute to promote social work education
30/07/2003
The Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education
was officially launched today, which will promote best
practice between the nine universities offering the new
social work honours degree.
The Executive and Scottish Higher Education Funding
Council (SHEFC) are each contributing £1.2 million to the
Institute for Excellence which will enable it to design,
carry out and evaluate three areas of innovative
educational development:
- Learning for effective practice - to improve the
balance between learning in the workplace and on
campus
- Assessment - to ensure testing methods are flexible
yet rigorous
- E learning - to develop and promote new learning
resources
Launching the new Institute, Deputy Education and Young
People Minister Euan Robson said:
"This Institute for Excellence will shape the future of
social work education by driving up standards and ensuring
we have a social services workforce equipped to meet the
needs of our 21
st century society. If we are to attract more
people into a career in social work then we need to offer
first class training and education.
"We are contributing £1.2 million during the next two
years to help the Institute underpin teaching excellence.
Universities offering the new social work honours degree
will be able to use the Institute's pioneering work to
strengthen teaching, support students learning and achieve
best practice. This will involve establishing three
projects to develop and support learning and best
practice.
"The Institute will drive these improvements and build
on other important initiatives already underway to improve
the recruitment, retention and support of social services
staff."
Commenting on the new Institute, David Wann, Deputy
Chief Executive of SHEFC said:
"I am pleased to see the commitment from, and
collaboration among, the nine universities to transform
social work education in Scotland.
"The establishment of the Institute will benefit
students in meeting the high standards required to become a
registered social worker, as well as social work employers
and ultimately people who use social work services."
Carole Wilkinson, Chief Executive of the Scottish Social
Services Council, said:
"The Institute will play an important part in the future
of social work education and we welcome this new funding.
We are looking forward to working with the Institute
towards a better qualified workforce and improved
protection for the public. It is vital that we work
together to raise the professionalism and status of social
workers, and encourage more people into social work as a
career. As the regulator of education and training and with
responsibility for regulating the social service workforce,
the SSSC will work closely with the Institute to ensure the
new degree is delivered to the highest standards."
The Institute's primary aim is reforming social work
education, which is an integral part of the far-reaching
changes being put in place to recruit and retain more
social workers. It has funding of £3.6 million for two
years. The Institute is a three-way initiative with £1.2
million contributions from the Scottish Executive, the
Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) and, as a
group, the participating universities.
The Executive's £1.2 million contribution to the
Institute has come from last year's Scottish Budget. The
£1.2 million is part of a funding package announced in
January (
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2003/01/SEED178.aspx) to increase the number of social workers and drive up
standards in social work education. The Institute will
receive a share of:
- £500,000 which was targeted for e-learning
projects
- Around £2 million over this financial year and next
in grants to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs),
local authorities and voluntary organisations
Nine universities are involved - University of Dundee,
University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, Glasgow
Caledonian University, The Open University in Scotland, the
Robert Gordon University, University of Paisley, University
of Stirling and University of Strathclyde.
The Institute's administrative headquarters will be at
Dundee University and its first director is Dundee
University's Professor Bryan Williams. The management
committee chairman is South Lanarkshire Social Work
Department's executive director, Sandy Cameron.
The first students on the social work honours degree
start their courses in 2004.