Midlands industrialists could find it harder to attract the skills they need if design and technology is downgraded in schools, a teacher has warned.
Nick Baldwin, of Studley High School, was speaking after a visit by Nadhim Zahawi, Conservative MP for Stratford-upon-Avon, who has promised to raise the matter at Westminster after being given a presentation on the issues surrounding the subject which is at risk of being dropped as a core element nationwide.
The visit was arranged by Martyn Hale, chairman of Bromsgrove-based HME Technology, who has been leading the campaign to have it reinstated as a critical and compulsory part of the National Curriculum.
Sir Albert Bore, Leader of Birmingham City Council, Dame Julia King OBE, Vice Chancellor of Aston University, Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, Adrian Newey OBE and Christian Horner of Red Bull Racing, plus John Rider, chairman of the Institute of Directors West Midlands, have all pledged their support to the cause.
Mr Baldwin, who teaches D&T at Studley High, expressed “great anxiety” about the threat.
He said: “Design and technology provides the capability for young people to move into skill-based and technical careers.
“I very much believe in the importance of design and technology and this is supported by senior figures across industry. I feel particularly strongly because there are a lot of industrial employers in the Redditch area and we have a good relationship with many of them.”
Pupils leaving the school at 16 – all study design and technology at Key Stage Three –were often picked up by local engineering firms, part on-the-job working and part continuing their education at college.
Mr Baldwin said Mr Zahawi had been impressed by what he had seen – now holding academy status the school recently gained an “outstanding” rating from Ofsted.
The Government is expected to reveal what subjects are in the National Curriculum and what are out in the next few weeks, and these will be implemented in schools in September 2014.
Mr Hale said: “It is vitally important that business and industry has access to a pool of design and technology recruits. Product design skills are crucial across many sectors from white goods to automotive, and if companies cannot access those skills here they will look abroad to fill the vacancies. Many already complain about the difficulty in finding suitable candidates.
“What this all serves to illustrate is that there is a huge groundswell of opinion in UK business, and also increasingly in the public sector, that recognises that design and technology is simply essential as a core element of the National Curriculum if we are to build on the UK’s ability to invent and innovate.
“Without the designers and engineers to put our ideas into practice, we will simply slip further down the global ladder as an economic power.”
Founded in 1984, HME Technology’s range of products include forges, brazing hearths, furnaces, welding tables, fume extraction systems, kilns, woodworking equipment, wood dust extraction systems, metal finishing and CNC machines. It also supplies fume cupboards and ventilation systems for science departments.