Speculate to accumulate!

Funding for the three year initiative will now move past the £1million mark after the support for this year's crop of 60 students is included. Don't get me wrong - this is a great scheme. The funding comes from employers and effectively shares out support amongst a larger group of students than if individual employers sponsored individual students. But it does also highlight the bigger picture – 60 students is a drop in ocean. If Britain is to be globally competitive we need to retain a technical advantage and that will only happen if we have the skills. Figures I found in an EngineeringUK report indicated that three years ago China would graduate 764,000 engineers and for India it would be 497,000. Meanwhile in Britain the number is under 11,000. Such disparity, despite the excellence within some of our companies and universities, will inevitably make it difficult to compete. If engineering, and electronics in particular, is considered important by the UK government for the nation's wealth and future, maybe it needs to look at why more school children don't go into engineering. Maybe removing tuition fees from the engineering disciples would raise awareness of their importance and make them more attractive for our young people. The contribution made by a buoyant engineering sector to the country's coffers would far outweigh the cost of financing the scheme. Speculate to accumulate!