Skills Minister brought together a team of
experts today (6 September 2017) to plot a course to build more
transport skills than ever before.
The minister invited specialists in further and higher education
to join transport chiefs to explore how best to equip young
people to build a successful career in transport.
The Department for Transport works closely with industry to
champion vocational skills and training — encouraging young
people to gain the skills and experience they need for the
challenge of a career in the sector.
Skills Minister , who is leading the
government’s work to develop infrastructure skills, believes that
more needs to be done to work effectively with the higher and
further education sectors, and so has invited experts to the
Education Advisory Group to work collaboratively.
Minister Hayes said:
“As people know, I have been a champion of vocational skills for
many years and so I know the importance of engaging young people
as early as possible so they can seize every opportunity to craft
a career in transport.
“We need to look at the role of schools, further education and
higher education institutions in inspiring the next generation,
and my new Education Advisory Group will, over the coming months,
chart how we can work more effectively together.”
The group will advise on best practice in promoting transport
through education, working closely with the Strategic Transport
Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT), which aims to get more talented
young people into transport apprenticeships.
Mike Brown, Commissioner of Transport for London and Chair
of STAT said:
“ has been the leading
champion in government of vocational skills, and I warmly welcome
his latest initiative to put his vision into practice.”
Valerie Todd CBE, Crossrail Talent and Resources Director
said:
“With the ever increasing number of passengers using our railways
and roads, and the unprecedented number of infrastructure
projects on the horizon, there are more career opportunities for
young people in the transport sector than ever before. By
bringing together the transport industry and the education sector
we can help the next generation build exciting, meaningful and
rewarding careers in transport.”
Young people will also be at the centre of the Year of
Engineering 2018, which is a year-long, cross-government
campaign. The campaign aims to raise the profile of engineering
amongst 7 to 16 year-olds and widen the pool of young people that
consider engineering as a career, through working in
collaboration with a range of partners to give young people
direct and inspiring experiences of engineering.
Further information
The Education Advisory Group is made up of Deirdre
Hughes OBE, Principal Research Fellow at Warwick University,
Prof Mohammed Abdel-Has, Director of Finance at Bolton
University, Yvonne Baker, Chief Executive of STEM Learning,
Nick Chambers, Chief Executive Education and Employment/Inspiring
the Future, Prof John Perkins CBE who is the author of
The Perkins Review of Engineering, and Valerie Todd CBE,
Talent and Resources Director at Crossrail and member of the
Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT).
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