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Listen
Our Themes
1 Engagement with Employers
What do we want to achieve?
We want to ensure that the interaction we have with Scotland's employers on skills, learning and workforce development is productive and beneficial for all parties concerned.
How are we doing?
We have a comprehensive suite of policies in place designed to help businesses and individuals, ranging from Modern Apprenticeships, through targeted business support to Individual Learning Accounts. We are also working very closely with the Skills for Business Network in Scotland to make sure that our skills and training dialogues with employers are informed, focussed and fruitful. All of this activity is aimed at helping us to realise our vision of creating a Scotland that is ready and able to take full advantage of an evolving global economy. Scotland has a wide range of employers - from small businesses to major private companies to large public sector organisations - with differing needs from the labour market and different approaches to workforce development. Our policies need to be flexible enough to recognise and respond to these needs where appropriate.
What do we need from you?
- We need to know about your experiences of our skills policies, in whatever capacity be it as a deliverer, a recipient or a policy maker;
- We want you to share with us your views on how our policies have impacted on and influenced what you do;
- We need your reflections on how our policies are communicated and perceived;
- We feel that our training offers compare well with the rest of the UK and would like your perspective on this;
- We would welcome three key suggestions as to how we could build on the activity we currently undertake or address any gaps in the system;
- We want to know how you could work with us to deliver our shared ambitions.
2 Flexible Learning Opportunities, Entitlement and Discretionary Support
What do we want to achieve?
We want to ensure that we have a world class educational system that can be accessed by everyone in Scotland, regardless of their background or personal circumstances, and to have in place the right funding and delivery mechanisms to make this a sustainable reality.
How are we doing?
Our current Scottish system is one that serves the majority of Scotland very well. We are also fortunate in that we have a range of stakeholders who continually anticipate and plan for an improved future. Our existing funding system offers a level of focussed flexibility already, targeting those whose needs are greatest, and our learning providers are becoming increasingly attuned to the needs of non-traditional learner and are adjusting their delivery mechanisms accordingly. However, as our recent NEET and Employability Strategies have helped to highlight, there are still a lot of people in Scotland who, for various reasons, are not engaged in the opportunities that our education system can offer them. Not only those who are inactive, but also people already in work for whom a return to learning could help them to reap enormous personal benefits. Would movement towards a more learner centred funding and delivery model help to address these issues?
What do we need from you?
- We want you to share with us your views on how our funding and delivery mechanisms have impacted on and influenced what you do;
- We want your view on any barriers that exist in the current system which might prevent people from participating or achieving;
- We need your reflections on how our policies are communicated and perceived;
- We feel that our current education funding and delivery models compare well with the rest of the UK and would like your perspective on this;
- We would welcome three key suggestions as to how we could build on the activity we currently undertake;
- We want to know how you could work with us to deliver our shared ambitions.
3 Information, Advice and Guidance ( IAG)
What we do want to achieve?
We want a clear, coherent system of information advice and guidance that is accessible to and understood by everyone in Scotland.
How are we doing?
Since the launch of the Strategy, we have invested a great deal in improving information, advice and guidance for learners in Scotland. Learndirect scotlandand Careers Scotland help to drive demand for learning and provide freely available advice and guidance on learning and career choices to everyone that needs it. We have developed a concise and straightforward set of leaflets on funding so that learners can easily find out what is available to them, and we are on track to establish a national provider of information on funding for learners later this year. In short we have an excellent system that serves the majority of learners - and influencers - very well. What we need to do now is to establish where the gaps may be in order that we can build on the success that we have already achieved.
What do we need from you?
- We need to know about your experiences of IAG, in whatever capacity be it as a deliverer, a recipient or a policy maker;
- We want you to share with us you views on how our IAG systems have impacted on and influenced what you do;
- We need your reflections on how our systems are communicated and perceived;
- We feel that our IAG offer compares well with the rest of the UK and would like your perspective on this;
- We would welcome three key suggestions as to how we could build on the activity we currently undertake;
- We want to know how you could work with us to deliver our shared ambitions.
4 Community Learning and Development
What do we want to achieve?
We want to have policies in place which will build and support a vibrant and confident community learning and development ( CLD) sector. CLD is key to delivering our agenda: it enables people who have been excluded from opportunities to build their confidence and skills, gain access to learning, and play an active part in their communities .
How are we doing?
CLD is a vital part of our existing strategy and we have made good progress. We have established Learning Connections as part of Communities Scotland to ensure that the Community Learning and Development Partnerships make a positive difference to the lives of people and communities in Scotland by delivering on the national priorities set out in our guidance for CLD, Working and Learning Together to Build Stronger Communities. From their inspections across all local authorities, HMIE have identified the overall quality of adult learning as a key strength of CLD provision. We are currently working to ensure that we learn from the progress already made with our Adult Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, and continue to build on it. We have just consulted on a Youth Work Strategy to help strengthen another key dimension of lifelong learning. Our Performance Information Project is starting to tell us more about the scale and impact of CLD. The most disenfranchised people in Scotland can benefit hugely from community learning and development and we need to make sure that our polices and actions plans keep up the momentum of change and make best use of this asset .
What do we need from you?
- To tell us about your experiences of community learning and development;
- To share your views on how our existing CLD policies have impacted on what you do;
- Your reflections on how we communicate our policies and how people involved in CLD and in the wider lifelong learning sector see them;
- To tell us whether you agree that bringing together community-based learning with youth work and community capacity building through CLD gives Scotland a key advantage;
- Your views on any significant gaps in what we are currently doing;
- Three key suggestions as to how we could build on the activity we currently undertake;
- To tell us how you could work with us to deliver our shared ambitions.
5 Journeys Into and Through Learning
What do we want to achieve?
We want all Scots to be lifelong learners with the confidence and choice to move easily into and through the learning landscape to achieve their goals, whether they are personal, social or economic. To do this we need a flexible, integrated system that suits modern lifestyles.
How are we doing?
Our innovative education strategies, such as Ambitious Excellent Schools, A Curriculum for Excellence and Determined to Succeed, are working towards ensuring that tomorrow's school leavers are lifelong learners. We are also working to build an integrated learning landscape, where all learning is recognised and valued, where different pathways are well signposted and where learners can make choices that suit their circumstances. We have the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework that allows qualifications to be understood and compared and informal learning to be recognised and valued. It supports pathways through learning, not only in Scotland but across Europe. Links between the SCQF and the European Qualifications Framework will increase mobility for learners and their achievements. Collaboration between schools and colleges is providing the opportunity for many young people to study in a college environment, easing transitions to further learning, training or employment. The newly merged funding council is driving our agenda of widening access and ensuring smooth transitions. We need to consider how we can maximise and build on existing work to achieve our ambitions and to identify areas that need further work.
What do we need from you?
- We would like your perspective and opinions on entry to and progression through learning in Scotland. What are the barriers and difficulties learners face on their journey?;
- We want you to share with us your views on how our current strategies and policies work. What works well? What needs to work better? Are there any gaps? Are there areas of good practice that we can learn from and could potentially build on?
- We feel that what we do compares well with the rest of the UK and would like your perspective on this;
- We would welcome three key suggestions as to how we could build on the activity we currently undertake or that would address any gaps in the current system;
- We want to know how you could work with us to deliver our shared ambitions.
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