UK education system is failing to support UK electronics

UK education system is failing to support UK electronics Richard Wilson and Richard Ball
The education system is failing electronics companies by not providing science and engineering graduates with the necessary skills, according to a number of industry executives.
“The Government is not doing enough. I have not seen a single government initiative to encourage students to take up electronics. In fact, students seem to be driven more to professions such as finance, IT and general business management, rather than to engineering,” said James Peters, chairman of power supply firm XP.
Last week Lord Sainsbury, minister for science, admitted that there was a need to raise the numbers of young people learning these skills.
Sainsbury said there has been a fall in the number of students taking physics and chemistry. He said: “Young people see biology and IT as being where the future lies,” adding that there are in fact lots of opportunities in aerospace, telecoms and nanotechnology.
“At the technician level, we have a serious shortage of skills… this clearly has a serious impact on our innovation and productivity performance,” Sainsbury said.
According to Colin Greene, market development director at semiconductor manufacturer Zetex, the problem is the level of specialisation in universities.
“Relevant science graduates are not introduced into semiconductor technology until well into their second or third year of studying and even then only superficially,” said Greene.
“Electronics should be treated as a separate subject much earlier in the education process. Currently, students can reach the age of 18 without an appreciation of much more than Ohm’s Law,” said Peters.
Creating the appropriate skills base in the UK is seen as vital for the industry as it faces greater competition from overseas. “The government needs to recognise the importance of the electronics industry in the UK,” said Martin Kent, CEO at Abacus Group.
“We need a clear policy for supporting the retention of electronics design and manufacture in the UK,” added Greene.