The Scottish Government

(To download a pdf version of this document click here)

PRESENT

Laurence Howells Scottish Funding Council (Chair)

Raaj K Bhatti ETLLD-FAED (Skills and Staffing Team) (w/g Secretariat)

Julie Gilstrap Association of Scotland's' Colleges

Ray Harris Edinburgh's Telford College

Jacqui Hepburn Sector Skills Development Agency

Stuart King Futureskills Scotland

Margaret McLachlan ETLLD-FAED (Reviews Team)

Matthew Lancashire NUS Scotland

Iain Ovens Dundee College

Joe Wilson Scottish Qualifications Authority

Claire Woodward-Nutt Higher Education and Learner Support Division, ETLLD

Daniel Sellers Communities Scotland

Iain MacRobert Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education

Jill Little NUS Scotland

Julie Hepburn Federation of Small Business

David Caldwell Universities Scotland

APOLOGIES

Col Baird ETLLD-FAED (Reviews Team)

Diane Duncan Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Marian Healy Educational Institute of Scotland

Ali Liaquat Educational Institute of Scotland

John-Paul Liddle Higher Education and Learner Support Division, ETLLD

Brian McKechnie Senior Studies Institute, Strathclyde University

Gerhard Mors Analytical Services Division, ETLLD

Grahame Smith Scottish Trades Unions Congress

Margaret Sutor ETLLD-FAED (Cross-cutting Team)

Craig Thomson Adam Smith College

Gareth Williams Scottish Council for Development and Industry

Euan Carmichael Scottish Funding Council

1) Welcome and Introductions

1.1 Apologies were noted as above.

2) Note of Meeting of 14 December 2006

2.1 The minutes were agreed to be a fair and accurate record.

3) Draft Report

3.1 Draft 2 of the final report had been circulated to members in advance. It was agreed to focus discussion on Part 4 of the report: "Preparing the sector for the future" and go through each of the 5 key areas for strategic action in detail. Claire took a note of the agreed amendments. Points made during the discussion included:

3.2 Positioning and purpose

• Text box bullet 1 - Amend so that it reads: "Colleges, the Scottish Executive and Scottish Funding Council should aspire to make Scotland's colleges vocational education and training providers of choice for learners and employers."
• Noted there were a variety of routes for individuals to access learning, whatever their background. Report also needs to emphasise that colleges have a key role in supporting businesses and that colleges should aspire to be the preferred choice for employers to meet their needs.

3.3 Leadership

• Need to emphasise that leadership should be proactive as well as responsive.
• Should expand paragraph on succession planning.
• Although this section referred to individual leadership, there was also a need to refer to colleges' collective role in delivering national strategies.

3.4 Collaboration and partnership

• First paragraph under How Should we Respond? should be revised so it does not suggest colleges would prefer to have authority to impose solutions.
• Need an additional paragraph about adding value through sharing information. Variety of data is collected at present by different organisations. Need a more joined up approach to drive services forward for the ultimate benefit of the learner.
• Colleges should strengthen their capability and capacity in the sector to work in partnership with other organisations and employ good managers who understand this and can develop networks at a local level. ASC could take on this role at a national level.
• There might also be reference to the need for the Executive to develop improved models of partnership working, both in terms of allocation of responsibility disbursement of funding, audit and performance measurement frameworks.

3.5 Responsiveness to learners and employers

• First recommendation refers to "market" - this could be interpreted differently from a learner perspective. Need to explain what "market" refers to here and how it impacts on the college planning process.
• Second recommendation should be amended to avoid implying that colleges are "conscripting" learners to meet employer requirements.
• Third recommendation should be revised so that it stresses the need for action to be taken to create information systems that allow colleges to access labour market intelligence, tailored to meet their local needs, and helping learners make more informed choices.
• So-called "Leisure" courses are often the first point of access for some learners. Should not make this distinction or suggest closing doors. Therefore agreed to delete this paragraph and related fourth recommendation.
• Report should also include again the following reference which originally appeared in an earlier draft: "Consideration of future possible scenarios has highlighted the importance of focussing on learners needs to ensure a positive student experience and to widen access."

3.6 Modernising learning and teaching

• Should include reference to colleges' aspirations to develop and maintain modern learning environments that will be attractive to future learners.
• Should refer to Information and Communications technology and not Information Technology.
• Should recognise that the nature of learning may fundamentally change as we learn from new technology and a better understanding of how people learn. Colleges need to ensure a blended approach that includes technical knowledge, core skills and skills for learning.

3.7 General points:

• There is a need for greater consistency throughout document in use of tenses and language.
• An Executive Summary should be included.

4) Next Steps

4.1 The remaining meetings of the core group are on 19 January and 15 February. It was agreed that they should be given draft 3 of the report as a near final draft to consider at their meeting next week. It will also be re-circulated to working group members before the final version goes to the core group on 24 January.

5) AOCB

5.1 There were no items raised under this heading.

Raaj Bhatti

Further and Adult Education Division

January 2007