Graduate and skill shortages: Government will play its part

At the 'Educating Engineers for the 21st Century: the Industry View' event in London, the Minister said: “We need to show our young people that there are exciting and rewarding career opportunities in sectors such as aerospace, opto-electronics, nanotechnology, mobile communications, energy and bio-engineering.” He was responding to a Henley Management College for The Royal Academy of Engineering survey that revealed that over one third of engineering firms in the UK believe that engineering graduate shortages and skills deficiencies are costing them money through delays in new product development and additional recruitment costs. Lord Sainsbury highlighted that the Government’s Further Education White Paper published in the same month said: "The Government will play its part in encouraging our brightest and best young people to take up engineering and has published the next steps of the 10-year Science and Innovation Framework.” And he welcomed TESS - the Technology and Engineering in Schools Strategy being developed by the Academy and its partners – which will provide a co-ordinated approach to delivering 'best practice' in educational support activities with the hope of more effectively motivating young people to pursue careers in technology and science. But he added that for it to succeed, “ everybody, including industry, must buy into the TESS objectives of co-ordination and coherence and there must be a long-term commitment to the process.”