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Government, businesses, Scotland's Colleges and individual Scots all have a role to play in helping Scotland's Economic Recovery Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop said today.

The Cabinet Secretary visited West Lothian College to meet participants in an access course for Construction Apprentices which has been able to take on more students as a result of additional funding from the Scottish Government.

The Cabinet Secretary also met local employer Sandy Bruce from SK Bruce Joinery Manufacturing Ltd, who was able to 'adopt' redundant apprentice Paul McIlduff thanks to £2000 new support from the Adopt an Apprentice scheme, announced by Ms Hyslop in June 2009.

Speaking at West Lothian College Ms Hyslop said:

"The Scottish Government is doing everything that it can to help individuals and businesses deal with the recession. I am delighted to see today that West Lothian College are able to help the job prospects of people on their Construction course thanks to additional funding from the Scottish Government.

"I am also encouraged to see that employers across Scotland are taking the Scottish Government up on their offer of financial support through our 'Adopt An Apprentice' scheme. We want to raise awareness amongst those employers who still may not know about the scheme. From today employers across Scotland will see our adverts in the Scottish Sun and the Daily Record urging them to give a young person a chance and develop their business as a result.

"We all have a role to play in helping Scotland move forward through the recession. Later today I will discuss in Parliament the role that Scotland's Colleges have in supporting economic recovery.

"The Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council have recognised the key role that Colleges play. The Funding Council has already announced an above-inflation allocation to colleges for the next financial year, including a substantial increase in college funding for PACE - Partnership for Action on Continuing Employment, to enable PACE teams to work with colleges to support people facing redundancy.

"Building on that and in-light of the increase in demand for college courses both from young people choosing to go on to further study and the number of older learners who are choosing to go to college to improve their future job prospects, we also announced a further increase in college funding of £16.1 million over the next two years. That equates to more than 3,100 extra full-time places, although in reality the numbers will be significantly higher given that most college courses are part-time.

"Scotland's colleges have a key role in helping people and businesses deal with the impact of the economic downturn and ensuring individuals have the skills and training they need to contribute to this country's future economic success when the recovery comes."

From today, readers of the Scottish Sun and Daily Record will see adverts encouraging employers to take part in the Scottish Government 'Adopt An Apprentice' scheme. The Scottish Government are encouraging employers to take on apprentices who have been made redundant and, as an incentive, we will pay employers up to £2000 to recruit a redundant apprentice.

In addition to this, the Scottish Government is working with key partners - for example, the Scottish Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance of Sector Skills Council - who will also be promoting the add to their members over the coming weeks and urging them to take up this offer from the Scottish Government.

The Cabinet Secretary will take part in a debate at the Scottish Parliament today on the role of Scotland's Colleges in Economic Recovery.

Scotland's Colleges today published their Skills for a Successful Scotland brochure which highlights the importance of Scotland's College in driving Scotland's economy out of recession, through:

• Providing skills and training to equip hundreds of thousands of individuals to enter/ re-enter the job market.
• Working with businesses to enhance skills of existing employees, making staff more productive and companies more competitive.
• Providing training in the six key sectors identified by the Scottish Government as significant in helping the recovery of the Scottish economy.

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