SOME pound;22 million a year will be committed to enterprise education in schools by 2006. Previously the Scottish Executive had talked about pound;40 million over three years.
The Executive also intends piloting “personal lifelong learning plans” among school-leavers in 2004 to record achievements and set out a programme for future learning.
These are among the policies unveiled in the lifelong learning strategy published on Tuesday. As The TES Scotland revealed last week, the plans reflect the Government’s recognition that attitudes are largely shaped when children are at school.
This point was reinforced by Iain Gray, Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Minister, in the foreword to the strategy document.
The proposals unveiled include a new drive to improve links between schools and further education colleges.
Personal learning plans will “not be based solely on academic qualifications but could also help people record and plan on-the-job learning and experience with a view to acting as a CV.
“The plan would link with current developments on personal learning plans for all schoolchildren and also provide signposts to, for example, Learndirect Scotland and Careers Scotland to help individuals identify what learning they need and where they can do it.”
The strategy provides encouragement to schemes such as those in Glasgow (see above) to provide more work-based vocational learning. The plans for enterprise education envisage that all pupils over the age of 14 should have a work-related experience.
But the proposals acknowledge that this will require a major increase in commitment by employers to work with schools.
The strategy document also accepts that “it will be important to ensure that any opportunities that young people take up are of a high quality, otherwise the work experience could be a negative one”.
Full details, FE Focus, page 36
