EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The future is bright, if we teach more tech
High-tech businesses of the future need technically savvy specialists to add to their workforce. And schools are being urged to support the journey of students who show interest and talent in being part of this workforce of tomorrow. At South Gloucestershire and Stroud College’s Berkeley Green University Technical College, the enthusiasm of their young students to the curriculum is starting to make waves in the business world Ian Mean, director of Business West in Gloucestershire and former editor of The Citizen, has been impressed with what he has seen. He believes youngsters are starting to vote with their feet, leaving traditional schools in the area to enrol with the next generation of Gloucestershire innovators at Berkeley Green. “I have to say that these young people now at Berkeley are, in my view, the standard bearers for a new era of economic prosperity for the county of Gloucestershire. “This is the county that houses GCHQ and where the government has sanctioned a new Cyber Park in Cheltenham. But we need those digitally-minded young people who will carry forward what has always been a beacon for precision engineering in our county.” The UTC is run by South Gloucestershire and Stroud College and is on the site of the decommissioned nuclear power station’s laboratories. There are currently around 300 students, some committed to travelling up to an hour and a half to study. “You can’t help but be impressed by the infectious atmosphere of the cyber, digital and engineering learning areas,” Mean said and he is calling on other schools to identify more young people who might benefit from the specialism and depth of applied learning that Berkeley provides. “They all say that it is unlike normal school. They study the main subjects, of course, but spend significant time with hands-on learning in engineering, cyber and digital.”
Kevin Hamblin, chief executive of South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, echoes Mean’s views: “If I am asked how Berkeley can truly benefit the economy of Gloucestershire and the life chances of our students, I would ask for the removal of two barriers,” Hamblin said. “Firstly, the majority of current students chose Berkeley because they have parents or close family in engineering or IT. “They sought out the opportunity independently, because they had a passion for cyber or engineering – not because their secondary school advised them of the opportunity. “We must make sure young people are better advised of the options available to them and that schools provide better advice and guidance of all the opportunities available to a young person – even if it means moving institution. “The second barrier is the cost of transport. We spend £180,000 a year to bus students to Berkeley – money which is taken from the funds meant for education. “A local secondary school does not need to fund this activity. “A specialist school which supports the county’s children with learning difficulties or disabilities will be funded for transport because it is more cost effective to centralise specialist provision, rather than disperse the specialist staff and resources to each and every school. “I think it is a shame that the same logic is not applied to a specialist mainstream school such as Berkeley." Mean warns that the choice is: diversify or risk having skills gaps in vital industries in the future. “This really is Gloucestershire’s specialist engineering and cyber academy for young people and it should be better serviced,” he said. “Not only by the schools, but by government and local businesses too, as it is an asset which needs to be supported and encouraged” l
78 | February 2019 | www. punchline-gloucester .com
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