NEWS


Apprenticeship career path at risk D


espite successive governments having created what could be the 'best career route in the world’ for under-25s, this could now be at risk.


New research shows 98% of engineering apprentices are happy in their jobs, citing good pay and no debt, fulfilling work, qualifications and career progression. However, this extraordinarily successful career route is at risk from government changes to the apprenticeship system and is being held back by poor careers advice at school.


Research was carried out through the Industry Apprentice Council (IAC), the UK's industry voice for apprentices, and supported by national engineering skills body Semta. 1,200 apprentices from the advanced manufacturing and engineering sectors took part.


Ann Watson, chief executive of Semta Group, said: “As we finalise new standards for apprenticeships it is important that ministers listen to apprentices and prevent the collapse of an extremely successful system. We are already facing an uphill battle with poor careers advice in schools. We need to make apprenticeships more attractive, not less, to our young people and employers, particularly the SMEs, at a time when we need all the engineers we can get and the skills gap is growing – we need nearly two million more engineers and technical staff by 2025.”


92% of the apprentices surveyed oppose the removal of mandatory qualifications by the Department for Education, with warnings that this risks creating a two tier system. Those studying the new T-Levels will achieve a recognised formal


qualification while newer apprentices may not, as qualifications are not mandatory in the new apprenticeship standards.


John Coombes, IAC member and tool-maker at Ford Motor Company, said: “Governments have created what must be the world’s best career route for young people – where else would we get 98% saying they are happy with their career choice? But more than 90% of apprentices oppose the removal of mandated qualifications, and there is a lot of unease about the focus on the End Point Assessment as the primary measure of an apprentice’s achievement.”


Careers advice was criticised by the apprentices. Only 22% received good or very good advice from schools, with 5% receiving no advice and nearly 40% labelling their advice bad or very bad.


Bitzer IRS symposium brings together international experts


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t the end of June, over 60 experts in refrigeration and air conditioning from more than 25 countries came to the first Bitzer International Refrigeration Seminar (IRS) symposium.


The event began on 28 June and concluded on 1 July, with the agenda including an overview of the general situation in the market, in addition to looking at digitalisation and refrigerants, as well as many more subjects.


Kicking off the symposium, Professor Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker’s lecture was a real highlight. The internationally renowned scientist, current co- president of the Club of Rome and former director of the UNO centre for science and technology summarised the results of his decades of research with some astonishing examples in his lecture, entitled ‘Good technology requires good politics’. He stated: ‘‘We have to make it clear to ourselves how much potential there is in just one kilowatt-hour. Even a quarter provides enough energy to transport ten kilos from sea level up to the summit of Mount Everest. The number of possible uses is enormous – but the efficiency of our use is abysmal.’’


16 September 2017


According to Professor von Weizsäcker, just 25% of the energy available today is theoretically sufficient to completely meet our needs, if we use it efficiently.


Professor von Weizsäcker showed the connection to environmental protection and was optimistic as far as Germany is concerned. He then went into the so-called Kuznets curve for local pollution of our environment. This curve shows that, during industrialisation, the environmental pollution in states initially increases. However, he explained: ‘‘At some point, countries become so rich that they can afford expensive environmental protection, and then they become cleaner. In Germany, we have already passed the pollution peak.’’


Professor von Weizsäcker continued: ‘’Technical progress is almost always driven by politics and society. If, as a society, we really want something, then technology is able to offer solutions incredibly quickly. After all, experts already have very good approaches on the shelf for many problems.’’ For example, Bitzer’s service and maintenance network is outstanding. This has the effect of extending the service life of technically outstanding


Similarly, fewer young women were given information about apprenticeships compared to young men – 35% against 41%.


Philippa Dressler-Pearson, IAC member and advanced technical engineering apprentice at Southco Manufacturing, Worcester, said: “There's a massive skills shortage of engineers and technical staff in the UK but you don't hear anything about this in schools. Teachers don't have enough information about apprenticeships, why they are important and what they offer.”


The research also highlighted a significant gender bias in careers advice, with 85% of female apprentices saying their school or college had put higher education as the number one option for school leavers, compared to just 77% for male apprentices.


products, while simultaneously increasing the efficiency of the use of resources.


In addition to a number of interesting lectures, the presentations by Bitzer employees Hermann Renz, technical programs manager, and Philippe Maratuech, director of services and after-sales, were well received. Mr Renz discussed ‘Energy efficiency improvement of RAC systems – a global challenge’, while Mr Maratuech put the focus on ‘Digitalisation and smart services for efficient solutions’.


Meanwhile, Bitzer’s Erik Bucher, director of sales refrigeration, and Mathias Layher, director of sales AC, Marine and Process, teamed up to deliver a presentation entitled ‘Bitzer facts and figures – market situation and development’, in which they spoke about the company’s global presence and the worldwide trends in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector.


Finally, Barbara Bergmann, director of the Schauwerk Museum in Sindelfingen, dedicated her talk to cultural questions before finishing up with ‘Contemporary art at Bitzer and Schauwerk’. The three-day symposium was rounded off by a varied accompanying programme, with tours through the Schauwerk art museum, a guided tour in English through picturesque Tübingen, trips in a punt, and an outdoor ‘Olympics’ with a Segway tour and an e-obstacle course.


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