Prince of wales launches 'Industrial Cadets' scheme
22 January 2013
A new scheme has been launched that will give young people the chance to develop employability skills and gain experience in the industrial and engineering sectors.
The Prince of Wales with workers at the JLR Halewood plant
The scheme, which hopes to raise the aspirations and develop the employability skills of young people by exposing them to career opportunities in local industry, was jointly launched by the Prince of Wales and communities secretary Eric Pickles at the Jaguar Land Rover plant in Halewood, Liverpool.
Inspired by the Prince of Wales, following a visit he made to the Redcar Steel works a few years ago, the Industrial Cadets scheme offers students aged 12 to 14 in six areas across the country a programme of activities, including ‘hands-on’ project work, mentoring and company visits to build awareness of their local manufacturing industry and future career opportunities.
In a speech he gave at Halewood, Prince Charles said: "So often it seems that we have forgotten in this country that Britain is very good at manufacturing and has all sorts of remarkable skills of ingenuity and inventiveness and how to turn brilliant ideas into production so this I hope, with all the different initiatives that are going on, will I hope to remind how much potential there is in this whole field of engineering."
The experiences gained on the Industrial Cadets scheme, which is being backed by funding provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government, are designed to help young people develop important skills and abilities such as creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, digital skills, and personal development.
Industrial Cadets is being implemented by the Engineering Development Trust, the largest provider of science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities for young people. A further aim of the scheme is to increase levels of interest in these subjects by targeting pupils of pre-GCSE age (13 to 14-year-olds).
For more information about the Industrial Cadets scheme, click here.
Meanwhile, the Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF) is sponsoring the first ever Manufacturing Prize to feature in the British Science Association's National Science + Engineering Competition, which is open to all 11-18 year olds living in the UK and in full-time education.
The EEF Manufacturing Prize will be awarded to the entrant with the most innovative and inspiring project relating to manufacturing.
Out of entrants to the Competition, 228 finalists have now been selected. These young scientists and engineers will exhibit their projects at the national finals of the Competition, which will be held at The Big Bang Fair, at the London ExCeL Centre, from 14 – 17 March, 2013.