Informed Scotland June 2019: Skills shortages, empowering schools & the digital divide

Skills gaps, shortages and plans were back as hot topics in June.

Skills Development Scotland launched a Skills Action Plan for Rural Scotland and regional Skills Investment Plans for the south of Scotland and Glasgow City. The Open University’s Bridging the Digital Divide report examined the extent and impact of digital skills gaps. And CBI/Tata Consultancy’s survey looked at digital skills challenges faced by business.

A year after the draft Education (Scotland) Bill was published and shelved, it was finally put to bed. Instead, the Scottish Government published a progress update on education reforms and new Devolved School Management Guidelines. And on the topic of ‘empowering schools‘, Education Scotland released its Thematic Inspection of Empowerment for Parent and Pupil Participation, the third of a series of inspection reports.

Other reports worth highlighting include Education Scotland and Scottish Government’s Learning for Sustainability: Vision 2030+ action plan; the latest Learning Insights report by Kineo on the ‘phenomenon of micro-personal-networking’ in workplace learning; and fascinating models proposed by the British Library for a UK-wide digital platform for library users.

As usual, June was full of statistical reports and annual surveys. This included the destinations of school leavers and sobering education outcomes of looked after children, on apprenticeships by SDS, colleges by Audit Scotland and Colleges Scotland, and higher education student experience by HEPI and Advance HE, plus the second annual progress report from the Commissioner for Fair Access.

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