The 19th century expansion of education was largely driven by the demands of the Industrial Revolution for a better-educated workforce.
The Education (Scotland) Act of 1872 that established compulsory schooling for nearly all children between the ages of five and 13, helped create a workforce more literate and numerate than its European counterparts.
The need for the development of new and existing skills has never diminished. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the oil industry. The majority of companies taking part in recent surveys anticipate continuing growth with about 40,000 new jobs, a significant number being in Scotland and in the north-east in particular.
More worrying is the number of companies that believe expansion could be restricted by a growing skills shortage. Understandably, there are calls to close the gap through closer links between the industry and higher education. However, there may be a more fundamental problem at the heart of the skills shortage.
The skills shortage is unrelated to pay levels. The career prospects and rewards in the oil and gas sector far exceed those in virtually any other occupational area. The skills shortage is due more to national attitudes and perceptions. Essentially, despite the potential rewards, too few of our young people are attracted to careers in engineering and technology. More generally, there is a cultural undervaluing of designers and engineers. If you require proof, go into any oil office in Aberdeen and count the disproportionate number of young engineers from India and the Far East.
By the time young people enter higher education it is too late to change attitudes and ambitions formed in earlier years. Action is needed much earlier in the educational chain if attitudes towards technological careers are to change.
Over the past 40 years our school system has undervalued the practical and the practical applications of learning. This is partly due to the high cost for schools of some practical courses. However, it also reflects the comparative lack of kudos associated with some practical courses. Additionally, too many youngsters perceive courses in the scientific and technological areas as being "hard" and seek out softer options.
In theory, current curriculum reforms addressing what and how our young people learn provide an opportunity to redress the balance. Sadly, there is every indication we are again about to miss an open goal. The national importance of enthusing more young people about mathematics, science and technology has yet to be grasped.
Worryingly, in an increasingly interconnected technological world, we appear thirled to the same old subjects fragmented, unconnected and assessed in the same old ways. Where are the new courses, assessments and qualifications that draw together key components of mathematics, science and technology that will target present and future skill shortages?
We are stuck with yesterday's solutions to tomorrow's challenges. A bit like the owner of the American Pony Express when told of the invention of the electric telegraph: "There is no problem, we'll just breed faster ponies."
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