Exclusive:Apprenticeships should be valued the same as university degrees, says ex-exams chief
Former Chief Executive of the SQA Dr Janet Brown said only a radical overhaul of public perception would secure the future of Scotland’s education system
All types of qualifications should be given equal parity to protect the country’s future prospects, a leading educationalist has said, arguing there is too much focus on pathways to university.
Janet Brown, a former Chief Executive of the SQA, also said politicians must take tough decisions that will be unpopular with the public in order for Scotland to thrive.
Dr Brown, now Vice President Education of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), claimed the education sector could to well to learn from how the NHS handles retraining its staff.
The expert spoke following months of research by the national academy.
In the run up to May’s elections, the organisation has been canvassing public feedback, the work of various RSE expert workgroups and published research to set out policy proposals for the future of education and skills.
It proposes a radical overhaul of how Scots think about educational success, careers options and how the sector is funded.
Dr Brown describes websites run by the NHS that help health staff take their existing skills and focus on what they might need to transition to a new role.
With a rapidly changing Scottish jobs market, education must be far better focused on how to assist people to retrain and upskill.
Dr Brown said: ”One of the challenges we have, especially for the covid generation, is to try and get people to sit down and consider what their qualifications will allow them to do.
“We need to focus on the whole skill set you can generate from what you've learned before.
“The recognition of prior learning that the NHS is linked to is very much aimed at doing that - and it’s not an easy thing to do, but it is really critical.”
The focus on retraining must come from the private sector as much as from government, with businesses taking responsibility for supporting those in redundant roles.
One of the crucial factors in improving the education landscape will be persuading the wider public that all jobs are equal.
Dr Brown said there is too much focus on academic achievement at Higher level and not enough on how many pupils secured college places or apprenticeships.
It is also, she said, vital to recognise the people who upgraded their qualifications to change jobs.
“One of the things we need to do is collect, publish and showcase all of that data in August when the exam results are published so that everybody gets equal value,” she added.
“Why do we not value all the things that we all absolutely need on a daily basis, the guy who comes in and fixes your boiler, the guy who's going to install a new heat pump, why don't we value that?”
Dr Brown added that a “sales job” will be needed to achieve the idea of parity of esteem, saying that Scotland has failed in this “completely and utterly in a way that other countries have not.”
The RSE research, which was carried out over several months and included public roadshows, says government must ask itself the purpose of education.
Dr Brown argues that education should be to address social issues and ensure everyone “contributes to society and has a happy life”.
She said: “It’s recognising the value in everything.
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“And actually we should have learned that from covid, the fact that we stood at our doorstep and watched and thanked the binmen for clearing the bins every week, and as soon as covid was over, we forgot that.
“The value of every single job is enormous, and we don't value them.”
She uses the example of window cleaners who work on tall buildings
“The one for me that I find the most interesting job is window cleaner on tall buildings,” Mrs Brown said.
“Those guys generally are rock climbers. And they do that job, they probably get paid really well for it, but it enables them to do what they love to do, which is go up and down wires and rappel off windows.
“It's about what what you want from your life.”
Wholesale change, she added, will be necessary rather than the piecemeal approach of successive governments.
Social issues cannot be dealt with in silos and will not be tackled without support from the education sector.
Dr Brown pointed to child poverty as, in fact, a “family poverty gap” that can only be addressed by ensuring parents are in work that pays.
Children affected by poverty need high quality nursery provision to give them experiences in the early years that will support them in later life.
Flexibility is also key, the RSE says, with training and education courses that parents can “dip in and dip out, to be able to still pay their mortgage, to not have to stop work, to be able to do their courses”.
“And we don’t do that well,” Dr Brown said.
What she would like to see is a tertiary education system that includes colleges, universities, private training providers, apprenticeships, and any other destination post-school.
She said: “Then how do we actually deliver that? Who should deliver that?
“And how are we going to pay for it and we've got to be sensible about it, and we've got to make sure that people understand the implications.
“That goes back to difficult decisions for government.
“And these are difficult decisions that will annoy 50 per cent of the population. We need the public and the media to understand why they are making these choices.
“Because in 20 to 30 years time Scotland is going to have missed so many opportunities and we need to be ready for the world in 20 years time.”
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