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ENTERPRISE IN EDUCATION: SME SURVEY
CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION
7.1 The research shows that businesses taking part in EinE tend to be committed to doing so; they are loyal to the scheme and have an appetite to become more involved. Furthermore, organisations' experiences of interacting with pupils are generally positive. SMEs clearly see the rationale for the scheme and the skills gap that it attempts to address.
7.2 However, the informality of arrangements between schools and businesses suggests that there is little attention paid to developing and cementing relationships. In order to retain existing participants and to attract new ones a more structured approach for participating is required. In particular, the benefits to the business should be 'sold' to organisations; they are not obvious to non-participants and could usefully be made more explicit to some participating organisations.
7.3 In terms of expanding the scheme, non-participating organisations are willing to become involved: the research has shown that SMEs have a keen sense of social responsibility especially towards their local community, which can be seen as a key driver for participation in the scheme. This highlights the need for pro-activity on the part of schools and Careers Scotland to get more organisations on board.
7.4 Barriers to the scheme may well be more perceived than actual, depending on the individual case. Lack of information leads to organisations assuming that they are in an unsuitable industry, that they are too small to take part or that EinE will involve a lot of Health and Safety issues. Organisations are also not wholly at ease with the term 'Enterprise in Education' - both its meaning and its ambit - which is not helpful. Communication is therefore required to address this lack of knowledge and to aid the scheme's progress.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Produce supporting literature for EinE to act as an intervention to the 'knowledge-vacuum' surrounding the scheme.The literature should describe the scheme, the different activities included and its strategy: it should identify benefits and address real and perceived barriers to taking part.
- Bring a degree of formality to the participation process.Give schools guidelines of best practice for each activity in EinE; for example, work experience could be broken down into 5 stages - invitation, preparation, participation, follow-up and re-contact.
- Get more businesses involved.Schools, Local Authorities, and Careers Scotland, should be proactive; supply non-participants with supporting literature and invite more businesses to take part.
- Focus on the business benefits.Businesses can easily appreciate the benefits for pupils; business benefits need to be more forcefully promoted.
- Ask participating businesses to become more involved.Invite them to take part in other EinE activities or ask them if they would be prepared to give more of their time. Also, use them as 'ambassadors' and highlight their positive experiences in marketing material.
- Encourage involvement in activities other than work experience.Communicate the range of activities included in the scheme via supporting literature; invite businesses to take part in a range of activities.
- Prepare pupils entering the workplace.Ensure pupils know about the business they are entering and have a list of goals to achieve. Ensure Health & Safety certificates are in place if they are necessary.
- Don't allow necessary paperwork to become bureaucratic.Ensure paperwork businesses must complete is user-friendly and attempt to keep it brief.
- Strengthen the branding of all activities under the EinE banner.Increase awareness of and familiarity with EinE by branding all material. This should also apply to materials produced by schools / Careers Scotland and Local Authorities.
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