Business Secretary Vince Cable recently made the statement:
Some of the challenges facing the engineering sector start when pupils are still at school and come back to choose subjects following GCSEs. Engineers must have a strong foundation in maths and science, especially physics. The number of young people choosing these subjects post-16 is relatively low, especially amongst women. The government is making changes that will impact this including: a redesign of the curriculum, teacher development and additional funding to support these changes.’
In response to this, the Perkins review to be published this month addresses this issue but as you can see this is just what Skirting Science has been advocating over the last 5 years! ‘Professor John Perkins, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is publishing a major analysis of the talent pipeline in engineering today. This review is a call to action to government and the engineering community to inspire future engineering talent and address the skills shortages within the industry. In response government is making available nearly £49 million in funding for engineering skills.’ see https://www.gov.uk/government/news/employers-educators-and-engineering-professionals-called-on-to-encourage-more-people-into-engineering-careers.