What an absolutely uplifting day I spent at Edinburgh College’s graduation ceremony last Friday. Scores of people who might otherwise not have had the chance to earn life-changing qualifications all took a giant stride forward to a bright future.
They all deserve praise, but of the many inspirational stories I heard, one stood out; Doris, who worked as a cleaner at the college, taking care of the Principal’s office, because she needed the money to raise her young family. Principal Audrey Cumberford asked her what she would really like to do, which was working with children, and there she was on Friday picking up her diploma in childhood practice.
Another student received a special award for the dedication she showed in completing her course, and it’s hard to think of a tougher challenge for a young person than persevering with studies while undergoing treatment for a brain tumour.
And there was not just recognition for personal achievement, with another young student recognised with the class award for outstanding achievement for the energy and positivity he showed in encouraging his entire class to succeed.
It’s not as if what Edinburgh College offers needs further recognition, although it’s always nice to be told you’re doing well, but what it needs more than anything is more resources to meet the demand its success is generating.
For example, over 300 people could not get a place on the construction courses, which made me wonder how on earth we can ever meet our housing targets or retrofit thousands of homes to hit our net zero carbon targets when eager young people can’t get the skills they want, and for which the construction industry is screaming?
There are access courses to get people onto university medicine and nursing degree programmes and the same for pharmacy and dentistry if the universities have the capacity to take them on.
Basically, every sector whose representatives approach me to discuss workforce shortages were all well represented.
And in a week when Office for National Statistics data showed the employment rate for 16-64-year- olds fell 1.8 per cent in the first three months of the year compared to the last quarter of 2022, the need to train both school leavers and adults looking for new skills has rarely been more important.
Scotland’s employment rate of 74.6 per cent is lower than the UK’s 76 per cent, and with Scottish unemployment static, it suggests people are retiring faster than those entering the workplace, which makes it even more vital to get young people into training and further education.
Yet the Scottish Government continues to keep our colleges short, each missing out on an expected boost of just under £1 million this year after years of shrinking budgets. Now there are fears of cuts to the Flexible Workforce Development Fund which help employers paying the Apprenticeship Levy to upskill and retrain their existing staff.
It enables employers to plug skills gaps by accessing funding to create bespoke training programmes which can be delivered in partnership with their local college, the Open University, or an independent training provider. It needs investment not reduction.
Colleges shouldn’t be the Cinderellas of our education system, but the engines of future prosperity for everyone and it’s about time the Scottish Government unleashed their potential.
