Informed Scotland May 2020 – The impact of COVID-19 on learning & skills
While April was all about learning & skills in lockdown, in May the focus shifted to examining the impact of COVID-19 and to considering how to cautiously move towards normality.
The Scottish Government’s route map through and out of the crisis published on 21 May is the touchstone for all plans, and schools, colleges, universities and training providers are all working hard on creating workable solutions.
The impact of the virus is all pervasive, including across learning & skills. Every day, it seems, its affect on yet another group or issue is being uncovered. To understand this better, numerous surveys are being conducted and a raft of these were published last month, including those of:
- young people by the Prince’s Trust and by Young Scot, Scottish Youth Parliament and YouthLink Scotland
- teachers and teaching by the EIS
- parents and carers by Connect and National Parent Forum of Scotland
- graduate recruiters by High Fliers Research
- college students by EIS FELA
- students and graduates by Prospects
- girls and young women by Girlguiding.
This issue marks Informed Scotland’s eighth birthday. When the first issue was published in 2012, Scotland’s youth unemployment was 23.1%. Having been as low as 6.1% in 2019, it is currently at 12.0% with signs that the current crisis will push that figure up way higher. A report on Securing a place for young people in the nation’s economic recovery by the Institute for Employment Studies and partners, plus some of the surveys above, examine the concerns, the impact and the ‘rapid response’ required to avoid disaster.
It’s not all about the virus however – as we all open our eyes to racism, look out for a timely report from Equate Scotland on Women in STEM: An intersectional analysis of multiple discriminations, highlighting the experiences of those working in science, technology, engineering and maths in Scotland.
Our COVID-19 response & support extra is available on request free of charge. If you would like to receive an updated version, or a sample copy of the digest, email [email protected]