Scotland’s reforms of education and skills must be more closely aligned with other crucial national priorities, a Royal Society of Edinburgh report has said.
Policies on the climate emergency, poverty and economic prosperity should dovetail with education in a way that is not currently the case, according to the body also referred to as the RSE, Scotland’s National Academy.
The report, titled Gaps, overlaps, and challenges: assessing the alignment of Scotland’s education reform agenda with national priorities, highlights where ongoing education reform supports the headline aims of Scotland’s Programme for Government, and where “it falls short”.
Disproportionate impact
The RSE warns that “policy misalignment” may have a disproportionate impact on certain groups, including “women, minorities, older adults and communities who are dependent on carbon-intensive industries”.
It also identifies “a paucity of data and evidence”. For example, “very limited Scotland-specific evidence exists on the role of skills and training in alleviating poverty and child poverty”.
The report adds: “Without access to the right evidence, even the most well-intentioned policies are at risk of failure.”
The RSE also argues that many of the recommended changes “would be relatively simple to implement”.
Key recommendations include that “a variety of educational paths should be looked upon with the same level of esteem - whether it be vocational learning, on-the-job training or more traditional academic work”. This would “make lifelong learning a much more attainable goal”.
The RSE also makes reference to the landmark 2023 review of qualifications and assessment; this month, the report’s author, Professor Louise Hayward, criticised the Scottish government’s reluctance to change the exam-heavy regime in upper-secondary schools.
The RSE report praises the Hayward review’s recommendations of “progressive changes to senior-phase qualifications” as this “would offer greater potential to develop and harness the necessary skills to contribute to Scotland’s net-zero targets”.
Similarly, it says that Hayward’s proposed Scottish Diploma of Achievement “warrants greater support” as this would help schools “align with tertiary pathways”.
In another 2023 report on Scottish education, the Withers skills review, the RSE advises that its findings should be applied more quickly, as a way to “alleviate poverty by improving access to post-school education”.
Value of green careers ‘under-recognised’
The RSE report also states: “The true extent and value of green careers is largely under-recognised by both learners and society.”
It recommends that more is done across the education system to “emphasise the full spectrum of green careers that are available to learners, particularly those predicated on a more vocational mode of entry”.
The RSE’s vice-president for education, Dr Janet Brown, said: “The education and skills system is at the core of Scotland’s ability to achieve not only economic prosperity, but also to address the climate emergency and eliminate family and, by extension, child poverty.”
She noted that multiple education reviews had been carried out in Scotland in recent years, but that “there is a lack of an overall plan that links the reforms in education and skills with…wider aspects of policy”.
Dr Brown added: “Today’s challenging financial climate means that all governments will need to ensure the most appropriate use of available resources to achieve the maximum benefit of its resources.
“It is now that Scotland must link the actions taken in educational and skills reform to support the nation’s aspirations for its people and for its overall future success.”
You can now get the UK’s most-trusted source of education news in a mobile app. Get Tes magazine on iOS and on Android
