That back to school feeling
1 min read
Solving the skills crisis will be as easy as ABC if we can put manufacturing in any guise on the school curriculum says WM Editor Max Gosney
Go back to school and before break, teach the kids about what we make'. Admittedly, as strike chants go, it's not a patch on 'Michael Gove you're in detention, get your hands off teachers' pensions'.
However, if we could get this message through to the placard-waving teachers, then one day the UK may be able to afford its premium public sector pensions.
Manufacturing is a huge wealth generator; it offers the best route for taking the UK from rock bottom to Rockefeller. If we can produce and export more, we can grow the national coffers and rein in a stifling £80bn trade deficit.
The trouble is, manufacturers can't attract the talented youngsters to deliver the next iPod, silicon chip or folding bike.
Let's apply some Genchi Genbutsu principles here. This pillar of the Toyota Production System urges managers to go to the source of the problem – in this case, the classroom. We're not switching on our brightest students to manufacturing careers.
That message came crashing through at the first session of the WM Leaders Forum. Just look at the cover stars of this month's WM: the seven- and nine-year-old have been on school trips to a supermarket and a local farm, but not a factory visit in sight.
It's no coincidence we don't hear Tesco bemoaning a shortage of store managers or Yeo Valley crying out for dairy farmers. Now is the time to act. The national curriculum is in the midst of a sweeping review and manufacturing must lobby for enshrined airtime in the classroom.
Whether site tours, talks by manufacturing managers or factory floor examples being used to teach maths – anything is better than nothing. Initiatives like the government's 'See Inside Manufacturing' campaign are great. But it will lean towards tours of glamour sites like Aston Martin or BMW.
That still leaves our SMEs facing blank stares from the headteacher and reams of paperwork before they can get the school bus through their gates.
We need something more forceful and all-encompassing to capture kids' interest. What do we want? Manufacturing on every school curriculum. When do we want it? Now.
