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Skills learning for students
12/12/2007
Universities must help students develop employability skills as part of academic and professional expertise, Education and Lifelong Learning Secretary Fiona Hyslop said today.
The Cabinet Secretary told the audience at Napier University's Skills for Scotland event that students must be ready to 'hit the ground running' to ensure Scotland's skills needs are met.
Ms Hyslop said:
"I would like to challenge our universities further to consider the impact of their provision on students' employability.
"In the past it has been possible for some students to pass through university successfully and only begin to develop their employability skills once they move into the world of work. This is no longer possible or desirable.
"Universities like Napier University already embed employability skills in vocational areas, for example, in the health service, and there is best practice in other areas which needs to be shared.
"In the modern economy, employers are looking for graduates to hit the ground running and to start to make an immediate impact on the business. This creates a challenge to our universities in terms of employability - one to which they will have to continue to respond to in new and creative ways."
Today's event is part of an ongoing engagement process following the publication of the government's skills strategy - Skills for Scotland. Organised by Napier University, the aim of the event is to create and reinforce existing partnerships with a view to responding to the skills strategy's calls to action.