Informed Scotland Dec21/Jan22 – Attainment gaps & skills shortages

Issue 97 includes key Covid-19 guidance and announcements up to and including 10 February.

Closing the poverty-related attainment gap continues to be a stubborn problem. Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels 2020/21 reported that the attainment gap in literacy and numeracy for primary pupils had increased. And the National Improvement Framework Interactive Evidence Report showed the percentage gap had grown for school leavers with one or more qualifications at SCQF 4+, 5+ and 6+. As a result:

• the 2022 National Improvement Framework & Improvement Plan includes enhancing support for literacy and numeracy
• Education Scotland is to set up a National Response to Improving Literacy group
• a Scottish Parliament committee launched an inquiry into the effectiveness of the Scottish Attainment Challenge.

Skills gaps and shortages remain a major concern for many employers. This time the spotlight was on engineering, digital, aquaculture and electronics:

• Skills Development Scotland (SDS) is developing a Digital Economy Skills Action Plan with ekosgen
• a new UK Seafood Fund: Skills and Training Scheme is to help address gaps in catching, processing and aquaculture sectors
• the Institution of Engineering & Technology’s annual skills & demand survey recorded skills and labour shortages
• UKRI funding is to support the ‘skills, talent and training’ needs of the power electronics, machines & drives industry.

Meanwhile, Audit Scotland published a critical report on Planning for skills, calling for the Scottish Government to take urgent action with SDS & the Scottish Funding Council on an integrated approach.

Other developments and reports to look out for include:

• SQA’s plans for this year’s National Qualifications exams
• a Review of Regional Improvement Collaboratives for the Scottish Government and COSLA
• Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s research on Music Education in the Primary Classroom
• UUK International’s report on the scale of transnational education involving Scottish providers and students
• plans for a CLD digital framework by the CLD Standards Council and a new Digital CLD Award.

Themed weeks and events coming up include: Cyber Scotland Week 28 February–6 March, Scottish Apprenticeship Week 7–11 March and The SCQF at 21 Online Conference on 24 March.

This is the tip of the information iceberg: become an Informed Scotland subscriber so you can keep on top of all the developments. Email [email protected] to request a copy of the latest issue.