The announcement was made by Chief Executive of Scotland’s Chambers of Commerce (SCC) Liz Cameron at the Association of Scotland’s Colleges’ annual conference in St Andrews.  The initiative is designed to help SQA develop a better understanding of employers’ skills needs across Scotland to inform future development of educational qualifications.  

Cameron stressed the importance of addressing Scotland’s skills needs through education, particularly via colleges.  The relationship between education and business is vital to tailor qualifications to the needs of the market and tackle Scotland’s skills gaps, she argued. 

Cameron said: “I am delighted to announced that to start this process of focusing more clearly on our future skills agenda, SQA has agreed to  provide us with a seconded individual to work with me and others across Scotland, to work with various business groups across Chambers to better understand what that skills need is. 

“We want to establish a team of experts to help us identify Scotland’s skills needs and drive the economy forward.”

Holyrood magazine understands that the individual will be seconded to SCC for an initial three-month period, with a possibility of extension thereafter.