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Improving employability in the children’s sector in Scotland
As a consequence of remoteness and rurality, employees resident in the Highlands and Islands frequently need to adopt a ‘portfolio’ career pattern.
Shelly Beresford, SkillsActive - 30/04/2008
Many out-of-school and playwork sector employees within the Highlands and Islands currently have little access to opportunities to expand their working options or achieve full-time employment.
With this in mind, SkillsActive successfully applied to the Highland Skills Fund for funding to carry out research to quantify the scale of barriers to full employment in the out-of-school care and playwork sector.
SkillsActive’s head of home country development, Ashley Pringle said: “Many people working in the out-of-school and playwork sectors are unclear as to how their industry-specific skills may be transferable and used to obtain work across the range of out-of-school care settings.
“This project allowed us to look directly at the barriers to employment, run training sessions for playworkers and develop case studies of the results and share them with employers, schools, colleges and training providers in the Highlands and Islands.”
The research revealed that sector employers had a lack of awareness of the range of skills that individuals working in the sector can bring to their business, and as a result, they can fail to utilise and values these skills. The research also highlighted that employers aren’t always aware of the career pathways available to those working in the children’s sector.
To access the full report, click here.
