Focus on maths in school adds up for Scotland - Liz McAreavey

The need for a much greater focus on developing skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – the so-called STEM subjects – was brought into sharp relief last week when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak put forward his view that pupils should study some form of maths right through their time in school.

Liz McAreavey, CEO at Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce

While education remains a devolved matter, under the control of the Scottish Government, his comments reminded us of the great – and as yet unsolved – need to encourage more young people to view STEM as a great career option. We are still not seeing the numbers we need.

There has been no lack of effort to resolve the issue – with industry, academia and Government all coming together across a range of programmes designed to increase STEM skills. Yet international comparison tables continue to show our performance as average, with the pandemic and a lack of STEM teachers a major barriers to progress.

In Scotland, the drive to provide the necessary digital skills to create a world-class digital economy fit for the future was given fresh impetus by the Scottish Government making it a central pillar of its National Strategy for Economic Transformation. This sees the creation of a National Digital Academy, to oversee the provision of world-class entrepreneurial and digital skills education and training.

The strategy is based on analysis of Scotland’s economic strengths and weaknesses and seeks to meet the nation’s ambition of putting computing science on par with mathematics and science education from the first year of secondary school right through to its world-class universities, with University of Edinburgh in particular figuring prominently in the world’s top 20.

Fortunately, a series of initiatives the Scottish government and private sector are taking, aim to boost STEM and digital skills (among others) across the country and the Chamber is partners in, or supportive of, many of these.

For example, Developing the Young Workforce is an employer-led initiative, hosted by the Chamber, and designed to make it easier and more effective for employers to connect with schools and colleges, creating a more cohesive team effort to better prepare young people with the skills they will need for the future world of work.

Thousands of young people are gaining inspirational opportunities and are learning for themselves the skills they will need to develop.

In another strong example, the CodeClan digital skills academy was launched in 2015 to provide digital training courses and skills that were increasingly in demand, as identified by Scottish industries. Since launching in Edinburgh, the industry-led academy has expanded to three sites around the country. It offers courses for both those in work and those seeking to reskill. Courses cover software, data analysis and web development – three of the skill-set areas most in demand throughout the UK.

The initiative has proven particularly effective in providing participants with the coding and computer skills demanded by Scotland’s flourishing financial services and fintech sector.

Tech-Scaler, spearheaded by Edinburgh based Codebase, is also a fantastic initiative, supported by Scottish Government, to accelerate our tech capability, which in turn develops not only our entrepreneurial credentials and digital skills but acts as a magnet for global talent looking for opportunities.

The need for all this action is plain to see. According to a recent UK Tech Talent Tracker from IT services group Accenture, Edinburgh has some 11,200 open technology roles, up five-fold in 12 months, while Glasgow is catching up rapidly, with demand jumping seven-fold to about 10,100 roles. The jobs are there – good jobs – and we desperately need people with the right skills to fill them.

Research for the UK’s Digital Economy Council also shows that more than one in ten (13.22 per cent) of all job vacancies in Scotland is now in the tech sector, and with average advertised salaries hitting almost £53,000.

These shortages are worrying. In the UK almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of businesses have stated that they only have some of the skills required at best, with many experiencing a severe shortage. This is made all the more concerning by an estimated 82 per cent of all UK jobs listing digital skills as an essential requirement.

As the ramifications of this begin to bite, companies and investors will be increasingly attracted to countries where digital skills are both readily available and continue to evolve to meet future demands.

In Scotland, action is being taken to try to tackle the problem. However, we need to do more, faster, to ensure our young people get the future opportunities they deserve and our businesses are able to be as productive as possible through access to people with skills.

Liz McAreavey, CEO, Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce