Industry leaders call for more opportunities for students
Last week the Conservative Party pledged to create technical schools for pupils, offering the choice to develop a career in stem subjects such as science and engineering from an early age.Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove said that the schools would "boost Britain"s science and engineering base", as well as support the party"s aim to provide 600,000 technology jobs.
Meanwhile, the issue of encouraging pupils aged over 16 years to continue in education has been raised once more.
The University and College Union today (April 20th) claimed that the government needed to do more to promote post-16 education to encourage people from lower income backgrounds to apply to university.
By taking a course in IT, students from less well-off backgrounds could be given the opportunity to further their education with a degree, enabling them to get a graduate career.
Paul Cottrell, the University and College Union"s head of national policy, said: "The universities themselves have actually done a lot in terms of outreach and access courses; visiting schools, trying to raise aspirations and trying to loosen up their admissions procedures.
"But I think the basis of the problem, the single most important factor in all of this, is staying-on rates post-16."
Mr Cottrell explained that if pupils are provided with opportunities to continue study and apply to universities, they would be successful.
"There"s no evidence that once they"re qualified they are turned away by the universities because universities are discriminating against poorer students," he added.
His comments come after figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Authority showed that 64 per cent of universities failed to meet expectations for recruiting students from lower income backgrounds last year.
To improve the admission of students onto degree courses, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg pledged to phase out university fees.
Speaking to thestudentroom.co.uk, the politician also said that he would provide 800,000 paid internships.
The issue of unpaid graduate internships has been a popular debate, as many graduates feel they must work unpaid to get a job in technology or another sector to improve their CV during the economic climate.
He said: "Internships can be an amazing way of getting a flavour for a possible career when you"re young and that option should be open to as many young people as possible."
Mr Clegg pledged that thousands of people applying to work on an internship would be paid ÷£55 a week to cover basic costs.
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