Call for the creation of regional polytechnics to plug technology skills gap
2 July 2014
NEF: The Innovation Institute is calling for the creation of regional polytechnics to compensate for a shifting jobs landscape and the changing skills requirements of companies operating in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) based sectors.
Wed, 2 Jul 2014NEF: The Innovation Institute is calling for the creation of regional polytechnics to compensate for a shifting jobs landscape and the changing skills requirements of companies operating in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) based sectors.
NEF (New Engineering Foundation), the professional body and provider of science and technology services to business education, said the polytechnics, which could be adapted from new universities or FE colleges, will carry out applied research in collaboration with local companies.
NEF’s report ‘Inventing the Future: transforming STEM economies’, published today [2 July], highlighted the need for more flexible workforce, which is able to take full advantage of technology, move easily between sectors and think creatively across different disciplines.
NEF said urgent transformation is required because of advances in areas such as nanotechnology, genomics, robotics, cloud computing, biotechnology and 3D printing.
One common theme highlighted in the report as a “chronic shortage of workers that can combine advanced technical knowledge with project management and business development skills”.
Organisations surveyed said that industry newcomers are ill-prepared for the workplace and have to undergo further training to gain the required competencies.
NEF has warned that unless comprehensive restructuring of STEM education takes place, inertia and inaction will stifle innovation and could put jobs and economic growth at risk over the long term.
STEM education in many further and higher education courses is largely based on assessment and qualifications that are decades old, outdated and restrictive. NEF’s three-year review of further education colleges found that STEM provision was inadequate in virtually every case. In the worst examples, 80% of the curriculum was not aligned with the needs of industry.
At a national level, the report showed that STEM strategy is patchy and unco-ordinated across the regions. It described skills forecasting is “myopic”, with companies and colleges reacting only to immediate or short-term requirements.
Keith Lewis, managing director of recruitment specialist Matchtech, said in a NEF statement: “Creating a more industry-ready talent pipeline is fundamental in helping to provide a long-term solution to the STEM skills shortage.
“In our experience prospective employers have long since requested that students present with an industry-ready skills set that extends beyond traditional disciplines, encompassing the very latest and even pioneering technological advances, and that training should be delivered within a package that develops business acumen and encourages an entrepreneurial fervour.”
NEF (New Engineering Foundation), the professional body and provider of science and technology services to business education, said the polytechnics, which could be adapted from new universities or FE colleges, will carry out applied research in collaboration with local companies.
NEF’s report ‘Inventing the Future: transforming STEM economies’, published today [2 July], highlighted the need for more flexible workforce, which is able to take full advantage of technology, move easily between sectors and think creatively across different disciplines.
NEF said urgent transformation is required because of advances in areas such as nanotechnology, genomics, robotics, cloud computing, biotechnology and 3D printing.
One common theme highlighted in the report as a “chronic shortage of workers that can combine advanced technical knowledge with project management and business development skills”.
Organisations surveyed said that industry newcomers are ill-prepared for the workplace and have to undergo further training to gain the required competencies.
NEF has warned that unless comprehensive restructuring of STEM education takes place, inertia and inaction will stifle innovation and could put jobs and economic growth at risk over the long term.
STEM education in many further and higher education courses is largely based on assessment and qualifications that are decades old, outdated and restrictive. NEF’s three-year review of further education colleges found that STEM provision was inadequate in virtually every case. In the worst examples, 80% of the curriculum was not aligned with the needs of industry.
At a national level, the report showed that STEM strategy is patchy and unco-ordinated across the regions. It described skills forecasting is “myopic”, with companies and colleges reacting only to immediate or short-term requirements.
Keith Lewis, managing director of recruitment specialist Matchtech, said in a NEF statement: “Creating a more industry-ready talent pipeline is fundamental in helping to provide a long-term solution to the STEM skills shortage.
“In our experience prospective employers have long since requested that students present with an industry-ready skills set that extends beyond traditional disciplines, encompassing the very latest and even pioneering technological advances, and that training should be delivered within a package that develops business acumen and encourages an entrepreneurial fervour.”
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