Theinterview Improving the employment readiness of Scotland’s students Dedicated to improving the employment opportunities of Scottish students Miles Dibsdall, OBE, Principal of Edinburgh’s Telford College, talks about his approach to further education. As the head of Edinburgh’s largest college, and taking into consideration the range of proactive measures the college under his leadership has instigated, to improve employment opportunities for young people, Miles Dibsdall is well placed to provide highly informed insight on the topic of youth unemployment. And the subject is topical indeed as current statistics show a worrying increase in the number of 16-24 year olds out of work; the figure up 13% on the same quarter in 2011. This, alongside the 7.5% increase in the number of 18-24 year olds claiming job seekers allowance, means this subject area could not be more relevant.
College launches in October, I hope that the projects we have instigated at Edinburgh’s Telford College will link in strongly with those excellent schemes from Stevenson and Jewel and Esk Colleges to provide a solid base for further progress in tackling the issue on a larger scale. “It is important that we work together to provide consistent and effective strategies for improving the job opportunities available to our young people. To do this we need to be clear in our objectives and clear about the role we play within the larger arena of Higher and Further Education within the country as a whole.”
“We, as a nation, are currently struggling out of a recession, and the job prospects for young people aged between 16 and 24 are reflecting this – with job opportunities at an all time low. I see it as the college’s responsibility, as a provider of further education, to help identify where our students are most likely to find jobs and tailor the services we offer accordingly.
“I have been at Edinburgh’s Telford College for two years now and during that time the college has taken huge steps to tackle youth unemployment. When the Edinburgh
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Edinburgh’s Telford College’s strategies for tackling youth unemployment reflect the approach of the current Scottish government towards youth employment. Key measures taken by the government include a pledge to offer all 16-19 year olds who are not in an apprenticeship, training, full time education or a job, a training place. They have also promised to deliver 25,000 modern apprenticeships each year over the lifetime of the parliament. “Here at Edinburgh’s Telford College we have long appreciated the need for alternative routes into employment. It is no longer sufficient for our young people to go one of two ways; into university or into a job. This is partly because the jobs are not there but it is also because these young people are not properly equipped or trained to fill the employment gaps that do exist, and this is often the case even after university.
“Not only do we have a responsibility to students while they are under our tutorage but we have a continued responsibility as they make their way in the ‘real world’ – the world of work and self sufficiency. Achieving the qualifications, or an entry level job, is not enough. We need to furnish students with a range of contemporary, transferable skills which will help them throughout their working life lives.” Having recently announced its merger with two of the capital’s other colleges, Jewel & Esk and Stevenson Colleges, the combined efforts to drive forward employment opportunities under the banner of the new Edinburgh College are moving at pace.
With a unceasing energy to introducing one new initiative after another, there is no doubting Miles’s passion for his job or his dedication to the plight of 16-24 year olds country wide - and the fact he was awarded an OBE for Service to Higher and Further Education in 2010 shows this has not gone unnoticed.
“Our Junior College is one of the ways we feel we are making a commitment to improving the employment possibilities for young people in a way which reflects the current economic and employment issues in this country. Miles Dibsdall OBE, the Principal of Edinburgh Telford College
Educated in Devon and an alumni of the University of Leicester, Miles has 15 years of senior management experience behind him and as well his teaching qualifications. He also completed an NVQ in Strategic Leadership and achieved his Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management in 2010.
“Students are presented with a range of courses which support the Scottish Government’s pledge of a guaranteed place in education and training for all 16-19 year olds, and help young people on their chosen route to further education or employment. It does this by providing students with a wide range of vocational courses of varying levels - from SVQs, Skills for Work, National Progression Awards and National Certificates.
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