VIEWS & OPINION


Why young people deserve the best possible start in life


Comment by MATT HYDE, Chief Executive, The Scout Association


Improving social mobility could plug UK’s engineering skills gap


Comment by MARK TITTERINGTON, Chief Executive of EngineeringUK


We believe that key skills are formed in our early years. That’s been our philosophy since we began 111 years ago and today we’re still so proud to support over 460,000 boys and girls aged six upwards develop skills for life. But we know from extensive research that it’s even earlier when the most


vital connections are made. It’s when we are most receptive to learning, when our character begins to form and when we develop the skills and attributes we carry through the rest of our lives. What happens during this incredibly formative stage determines so much of our future success. That’s why we made the development of early years in Scouting a key part


of our strategy, Skills For Life, launched in May this year. The announcement of funding from the Department of Education means we can press ahead with this incredibly exciting work – beginning 20 pilots, supporting nearly 300 children in disadvantaged areas where the benefit will be most keenly felt.


Supporting and working with parents Let’s face it, not everyone gets the same start in life. Of course, parents instinctively know that positive interaction with their child is a good thing, but there’s no one way to go about this. With busy lives and long commutes, this precious time often gets squeezed. That’s where Scouting can help. We can support parents and carers on the journey – getting them involved in delivering the scheme. It’s about closing the opportunity gaps and getting more young people in the habit of learning, earlier on – and having fun! Specifically, the new programme will help young people improve their


communication and language skills, build their emotional resilience and promote independence. It will also help them develop skills such as self- control, problem-solving, ability to focus. We’re proud to bring people together in Scouting, and we know this helps


promote positive interactions with other children. Vitally, we will give them the opportunity to experience difference and confidence to try new things.


Why it’s essential we try new things We have a great partner in this work in Action for Children, helping us design the programme. We will also be trialing three different models based on community needs, supported by around 50 adult volunteers and parents. This will be the first time we have extended Scouting to a younger age


range in 32 years, when we launched Beaver Scouts for six to eight year olds. In five years we had a hundred thousand members. This has the potential to make an equally big difference. Some might think that Scouting is slow to change. But actually innovation


is in our DNA. That’s why we call ourselves a movement not an organisation. The very idea of Scouting began with an experimental Scout camp on Brownsea Island, Dorset, where Robert Baden-Powell brought together young people from different backgrounds. He realised the special alchemy of different experiences, talents and backgrounds made the perfect environment for learning and development. We’re hugely excited about the potential benefits for young people – while


keeping an open mind about what model works best. In a year’s time we will have learnt a lot – and the scheme may even have a name by then. But for now, this is as much about learning as a movement as it is about helping young people develop and thrive. Watch this space.


December 2018


Wanting to improve your or your child’s life chances is the cornerstone of any progressive society and the fact that engineering can play a role came as no surprise to me. A new report Social mobility in engineering published last month


by EngineeringUK reveals that just under a quarter (24%) of those working in engineering come from low socio-economic backgrounds. This underrepresentation isn’t a shock, sadly, and entirely


consistent with the numbers we see participating and achieving throughout the educational pipeline, from those taking GCSE science to choosing to study engineering for their undergraduate degrees. The report suggests that more should be done to support students


from disadvantaged backgrounds to study and succeed in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects. It’s important to articulate why we need to involve people from


different sectors of society. It’s too obvious to simply say that social mobility is a good thing. We don’t want the profession to be elitist and encouraging people from different socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities and gender to choose engineering also helps us to bridge the skills gap. With 203,000 roles requiring engineering skills needed to be filled


annually through to 2024, there’s a compelling business case for the sector to harness and widen the talent pool to address the skills shortage. The reason must be based on more than just numbers though. For


me, the power of involving those who might enter engineering through non-traditional routes or from different backgrounds is that they see problems, and ultimately arrive at the answers, differently. However, to embed this approach early on it’s crucial to


understand the scale of the challenge. Our report finds that students face barriers early on with 44% of


pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) achieving an A*-C grade GCSE in mathematics compared with 71% of non-FSM pupils. The respective figures for physics are starker with 8% of FSM students achieving A*-C compared with 23%. We see this trend continue at A level - with 54% of those eligible for FSM in school achieving an A*-B grade, compared with 66% of those who were not eligible - and at university where just 1 in 10 engineering and technology first year undergraduates come from the most disadvantaged postcodes. Engineering has the potential to offer real career opportunities for


young people, whatever their background. However, an unequal provision of science-related subjects across the country is a barrier, with deprived areas more likely to face teacher shortages and have STEM subjects taught by non-specialists and have a lack of availability of triple science at GCSE. This potentially affects young people’s opportunity to study subjects like A level Physics, which can have a knock-on effect for undergraduate degrees and routes into engineering careers. Teachers, alongside parents, career advisers and engineers, all


have a role to play in encouraging young people to discover how fulfilling, diverse and exciting careers in modern engineering can be. From breathing clean air to powering our lives, you can bet there’s an engineer involved along the way shaping the world we live in.


www.education-today.co.uk 23


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