Ambitious plans to bridge a growing skills shortage and get Fife’s younger generation working have been unveiled.
As Fife Council and Fife Economy Partnership launched a far-reaching strategy for the next decade, council leader Alex Rowley said a closer working relationship between schools, the newly merged Fife College and businesses was key to the future economic success of the region.
With Fife recording a massive 48% leap in the number of people aged 18-24 claiming jobseeker’s allowance in the last eight years, a cornerstone of the initiative is to get young people on to the right path for training and apprenticeships.
It aims to capture the imagination of pupils at a younger age than ever before and steer them into the right academic or vocational education for their chosen careers while highlighting real alternatives to a university degree.
Fife Economy Partnership chairman Chris Parr said its vision for the region was a vibrant economy where the business environment inspires people to create jobs, making Fife the best place to start and grow a business.
“Fife will not flourish without well educated and skilled people,” he said.
Mr Rowley said: “We need to make sure that Fifers have the skills to do the jobs that are being created here.
“In some cases companies are looking well beyond Fife, Scotland and the UK to find the workers with the skills they need. That cannot be right when we have people here with the will to work but not the skills which are needed locally and that’s where our schools and colleges have key roles to play.”
“The economy of the future will require a highly skilled and motivated workforce.”
While some had voiced concerns about the merger of Fife’s colleges, he believed it was a real opportunity for Fife to take a fresh look at the way it was developing skills and training.
It was the responsibility of the council, schools, college and employers to keep investing in education if the workforce was to grow.
Fife College principal and chief executive Hugh Logan agreed the college had a significant role to play in supporting the successful delivery of Fife’s economic objectives which sets out the way the council and economy partnership believe Fife can recover from the global financial crisis, tackle the barriers to employment some residents face, and help Fife’s businesses take advantage of opportunities for growth.
“Having brought together two well-established and successful organisations into one, we have an even greater opportunity to deliver skilled, ‘job ready’ graduates to support high value sectors including STEM,” he said.
“Working closely with Fife Council, our local schools and businesses is key to ensuring we provide clear pathways from school into further and higher education and deliver a curriculum that develops the skills and knowledge needed to support employment here in Fife.”
But it is not just closer ties between schools and colleges which was vital. Businesses, from tourism to engineering, had a major role to play in equipping the next generation for working life.
In a bid to reverse the trend, the council has invested £5 million to work with companies and support young people into training, apprenticeships and work.
Councillor Tony Martin has also taken up the mantle of ambassador for youth employment to drive forward an agenda that would see more direct action to help make the changes needed.
Already 300 young people have moved into work through the Fife Youth Job Contract. Companies have backed the scheme, with the likes of Bi-Fab, ESA MacIntosh and Score (Europe) offering paid training and apprenticeship opportunities to school leavers, Mr Rowley said.
More than 133 employers are now involved with a further 69 registering an interest, 184 apprenticeships have been created and 116 young people have completed initial training and are now with an employer.
As a major employer itself Fife Council also agreed a new £1m a year investment which has created an additional 71 training places on top of the 145 apprentice places already within the council.