Career education in Scotland - who's minding the store?

Career education in Scottish secondary schools has received a great deal of attention in the last decade with the publication of numerous policies and guidelines (Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum, 1997 & 1999; Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2001; Scottish Executive, 2002, 2004a, 2004b & 2007; Scottish Government, 2008a, 2008b & 2009). There has also been additional input to careers work in schools from Careers Scotland, the statutory provider of career guidance in Scotland, which employed dedicated enterprise in education (EiE) advisers to support schools in developing and sustaining their career programmes. Additional funding was also made available for schools through an initiative known as Determined to Succeed (Scottish Executive, 2002, 2003, 2004a & 2007). However we now appear to be moving from a period when careers work in schools had a high profile to one where it may have few supporters and will have to compete for attention in schools - hence the question, ‘who’s minding the store?’