Informed Scotland July/August 2021 – Innovation, exams & libraries
Issue 93 includes key COVID-19 guidance up to and including 13 September.
National Qualifications results day passed by quietly this summer. However, the debate about the future of exams continues to grow, sparked by the publication of the OECD’s report on Upper-secondary education student assessment in Scotland commissioned by the Scottish Government.
Three strategies relevant to learning & skills in Scotland were published, two by the UK Government on Innovation and R&D People & Culture.
The other was a new five-year Public Library Strategy for Scotland by SLIC. As a firm believer in the power of libraries, I’m happy to spread the word about a Support our Libraries campaign launched by Scotland on Sunday to ‘highlight their work, tell their stories and push for their futures’. Also look out for Libraries Week organised by CILIP from 4–10 October.
However, at a time when lifelong learning is so vital, it’s particularly sad that Scotland’s Learning Partnership has had to cancel the 2021 Adult Learners’ Week in Scotland due to uncertainty over funding – this would have been its 30th anniversary year.
Other interesting reports to highlight:
- Skills for an inclusive economy – CBI/Birkbeck’s annual Education & Skills Survey
- Digital Capability – a review of the impact of COVID-19 on the digital skills of college staff by CDN
- Various enlightening surveys of the pandemic’s impact on young people – by Social Market Foundation, City & Guilds, Includem, Scottish Government, Children & Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, and Young Scot, Scottish Youth Parliament and YouthLink Scotland.
A date for your diary
Registration is open for the fourth annual David Raffe Memorial Lecture, to be delivered by Prof Ewart Keep on ‘transitions from learning to earning and on the wider relationship between education and the labour market’. It will take place online on 3 November hosted by Moray House School of Education & Sport, and Informed Scotland’s Angela Gardner has been asked to lead the Q&A session.
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