Classroom businesses on the rise?

By Martha Fairlie BBC Scotland education correspondent

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Enterprise skills and citizenship are subjects that have never had a place in the traditional classroom. But are they necessary additions to school timetables of the future?

At primary level, teachers say they are already having to cope with a curriculum that is too "bitty" and "overloaded".

But pupils say they aren't getting the kind of subjects they want.

Primary seven pupils at Flora Stevenson's Primary School in Edinburgh have spent part of this term thinking about how they would improve education. Their solutions are simple, but to some perhaps surprising.

There is an emphasis on preparing youngsters for work

Pupils actually want to spend more time at school.

But they are emphatic about the fact the extra time should not be for studying traditional subjects. Instead, they want to have more time for art, drama, physical education and music; subjects they feel are missing from the present timetable.

Parents, too feel some of the more creative lessons have been sidelined.

National debate meetings of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) found that parents want more than just the basics for their children.

But they are also conscious that the curriculum is already bursting at the seams. So they too are in favour of a longer school day.

But the question remains - what should we be teaching our children? A grounding in the three Rs is no longer enough.

Iain Macmillan, director of the CBI said employers are looking for far much more.

As well as a broad education, potential employees should have good numeracy, communication and teamwork skills. But he believes that rather than introducing separate enterprise lessons, these skills should be integrated with existing subjects.

Altering the curriculum to embrace the demands of the 21st century is a risky business

Martha Fairlie

SPTC convenor Eleanor Coner agrees. She envisages a system which sounds more like university than school, where pupils study history with business skills or geography with citizenship.

Further afield, in Wales, they have taken a different approach to broadening the curriculum. From next year, 19 schools will be piloting the Welsh Baccalaureate.

Education Minister for Wales, Jane Davidson, said they are combining traditional A-levels with a core of other essential skills.

Pupils will study a range of modules including a modern language, personal and social education, preparation for the world of work and community studies.

Altering the curriculum to embrace the demands of the 21st century is a risky business.

Removing traditional subjects could deprive pupils of knowledge that might have proved useful. Predicting the needs of the next generation can at best be an educated guess.