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Chapter Four Conclusions and
Recommendations
4.1 In general, businesses hold positive attitudes
towards
DtS. Businesses are on the whole
positive about the philosophy underpinning
DtS strategy and believe that enterprise
should play a significant role in the lives of young
people.
4.2 Through increased, continued or more formalised
engagement with schools and through the existence of a
national strategy such as
DtS, businesses held the perception that
enterprise was moving up the educational agenda in
Scotland. Indeed the fact that
DtS existed as a national strategy
created the impression, for some businesses, of a cohesive
approach to
EinE from the Scottish Executive.
4.3 Through their involvement in enterprising
opportunities, businesses believe that
DtS is working to some extent. In
general, the experiences businesses have had when engaging
with schools have been positive. Some businesses expressed
concerns over the extent to which teachers understood the
business world (in terms of timing commitments of
businesses and teachers willingness to work out of their
usual hours) however these were minor concerns and were
expected to dissipate over time.
4.4 Businesses were open to further suggestions as to
increase or develop their engagement with schools and were
generally positive about their future relationships with
schools. Generally, the businesses were very receptive to
new and different enterprise opportunities they could get
involved in.
4.5 Through the efforts of Local Authorities
facilitating partnership agreements between businesses and
schools, there is evidence to suggest that the number of
enterprise opportunities is increasing. Local Authorities
have been involved in encouraging businesses and schools to
enter into partnership agreements and this had been
achieved through activities such as business breakfasts and
partnership signing ceremonies.
4.6 There is evidence to suggest that the formal
partnership agreement format is best suited to businesses
who have been lightly involved with schools in the past or
who are relatively or completely new to
EinE. For businesses with a relatively
long history of
EinE opportunity engagement with schools
some find partnership agreements a rather unnecessary
appendage to their informal agreement with schools. Local
Authorities should therefore carefully decide upon which
businesses to target for partnership agreement signing, or
should consider how they introduce these agreements to
businesses so they are not met with unnecessary
hostility.
4.7 We believe that Local Authorities should be striving
to generate and promote a sustainable model for enterprise
opportunity engagement between schools and businesses.
Eventually, this model should not require input from Local
Authorities as the necessary communications and information
networks will have been put in place. There is evidence
from the Local Authorities to suggest that this model is
beginning to take shape.
4.8 We believe there is a strong role for communications
to articulate what is happening in terms of
DtS on both a national and local level.
Businesses are currently unsure as to how
DtS is progressing. Businesses also do
not know what other businesses are doing in terms of
enterprise opportunity engagement. Businesses also wish to
know that their involvement is making a difference to young
people.
4.9 We believe that communication should be a priority
for the
DtS team. This communication should
specifically target those businesses already engaged in
DtS as well as trying to attract new
businesses to
DtS. We believe that communications
inappropriate for currently engaged businesses will have a
detrimental effect on business' perceptions of
DtS, enthusiasm for
EinE opportunity engagement and future
business commitment to
DtS strategy.
4.10 We believe that communication to currently engaged
businesses may be best achieved through face to face
meetings, such as business networking events at a local and
/ or national level. Whilst businesses appreciate that
DtS is still in relative infancy, we
believe that the Scottish Executive should consider how to
further raise the profile of the
DtS strategy with the business
community.
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