Rob Wilson's Westminster Diary, November 10, 2011
Rob Wilson MP • Published 11 Nov 2011 09:00
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LAST WEEK I was fortunate enough to host a reception with Lord Baker of Dorking on the House of Commons terrace for University Technical Colleges.
It was great to welcome stakeholders from Reading's new UTC - Reading University, Reading College and Microsoft (although Bill Gates caused some amusement during his presentation when his software wouldn't work!).
The reception was attended by people from all over the country, from the great and the good to the UTC community and the very many people who want to be members of that community. It was also highly informative hearing so many positive stories from those involved in the UTCs already set up, and to learn how well they are doing.
I have the impression there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to harness the enormous energy and goodwill towards UTCs emanating from the Government, universities, further education colleges and, in particular, private businesses.
Large numbers of private businesses are supporting our Reading UTC. There is an information event tomorrow (Friday) from 4-5pm at Reading College for parents and young people interested in finding out more.
UTCs are a cross-party movement and I hope it will continue to be so. All parties clearly understand that Britain lags behind some of our European neighbours in its approach to technical education. Germany, for example, as a European industrial powerhouse boasts a long history of taking technical education seriously. Consequently it has benefited, and is now an incredibly successful exporter because of continued investment in its technical skills base.
UTCs offer us a real opportunity to plug a gap, catch up and take the next step towards supporting, and indeed creating, a more technically-based economy and industry.
That journey has been damagingly slow for the UK. Rab Butler's Education Act 1944 recognised secondary technical schools under the tripartite system, but there was little progress until Lord Baker's city technology college scheme in the 1980s. In fact, it has taken more than 60 years for this whole strategy to reach the point of lift-off.
Technical education has often not been taken seriously, frequently regarded as secondary to the academic route. UTCs will finally put that right, and in so doing, plug a skills shortage and unlock the boundless potential of thousands of our young people.
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