Universities and colleges in Dundee and Fife are to take part in a £4.7 million project to create work placements for more than 2500 Scottish students.
The idea is that students will gain valuable work experience and learn skills such as communications and business awareness that will increase their employability once they complete their studies.
Four groups will be set up to run individual programmes and one of these will be led by Kirkcaldy’s Adam Smith College in partnership with Dundee College, Elmwood College and Abertay University.
The Education into Enterprise project will receive £1.1 million over three years to support 1000 work placements in small to medium-sized firms and voluntary sector groups for students on higher education courses.
Dundee University will be one of five universities to take part in the Third Sector Internship project, which will provide 300 places at voluntary organisations and charities over four years at a cost of £2 million.
There will also be an e-skills placement programme, led by Edinburgh Napier University, which will place 750 students in IT companies and a further 500 students on postgraduate courses will be offered placements in the tourism, energy, life sciences and financial sectors.
The money is coming from the Scottish Funding Council, which explained that it was targeting sectors important to the Scottish economy. The placements will range in length from several weeks to a year.
SFC chairman John McClelland said, “These placements will give students a valuable opportunity to gain experience and skills in a range of business and industry environments.
“I am particularly pleased that many of these placements will be small and medium-sized businesses and include organisations like charities and social enterprises which have not traditionally offered student placements but have much to offer.”
David Watt, of the Institute of Directors Scotland, said, “This is just the type of practical exposure to work and enterprise that our students need to prepare for work in the future.
“They will, I am sure, be seen as of even more value to employers because they have benefited from this experience.”