Education can bridge skills gap

New research from ETB has revealed that UK teachers feel the disjointed way in which the sciences are taught in secondary schools is preventing children from seeing science, engineering or technology (SET) careers as valid choices.

These results have been released as interim findings by ETB, a national partnership to promote science, engineering and technology following a research validation conference last week.

Commenting on the research, Dr Sa'ad Medhat, Director, Education and Professional Development at ETB said: "With the current education debate focusing on higher education and the Government's white paper, we felt it was important to highlight the issues raised by these findings.

"When looking at the reasons behind skills gap in the SET sector it is vital we look beyond higher education and listen to what school and college teachers, through our research, are telling us."

The research was based on information and opinion gained from a range of primary, secondary and further education teachers through focus groups, questionnaires and interviews conducted by the research team between October 2002 and March 2003.

Commissioned by ETB from the University of Bath, the research aims to find out exactly how children and young adults can be encouraged to see SET as a relevant and rewarding career choice. With an ever decreasing number of young people aspiring to a career in science, engineering and technology, the much publicised skills shortage in the UK is of great concern to the community, especially to industry.

Focusing on perceptions of science, engineering and technology among teachers, the research looked at methods of improvement including cross-curricular development, learning styles and delivery techniques.

The research is currently being validated and a full report and recommendations will be published shortly.

Full findings from the research will be published at the end of April 2003 and a forum to discuss findings will take place in May 2003. In the meantime ETB welcomes further comment and feedback through the ETB website at www.etechb.co.uk

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