Homegrown British scientists could soon be a rare species: CBI

Homegrown British scientists could soon be a rare species: CBI

	Published : Mon, 14 Aug 2006 10:30 By : James Rowe Print this Story

LONDON - Britain could soon run out of scientists produced in the country if the UK educational system does not improve soon according to the Confederation of British Industry.

The faults in the educational system lie with a "stripped-down" science curriculum and many students taking up easier subjects. The absence of quality teachers also does not help the problem, the CBI complained. This has seen Britain's "world-class science base" being "eroded". It also warns that if this continues, then in the coming years science and technology firms in the country would happily opt for brighter students from India or China.

Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, said it is imperative that steps are taken before it is too late. "The UK risks being knocked off its perch as a world-leader in science, engineering and technology. Employers are increasingly worried about the long term decline in numbers studying A level physics, chemistry and maths, and the knock on effect on these subjects, and engineering, at university,” he added. “They see, at first hand, the young people who leave school and university looking for a job, and compare them to what they need - and increasingly are looking overseas for graduates. We cannot afford for this to happen.”

Alan Wood, chief executive of Siemens UK, concurred. "Embarrassingly large numbers of people leave secondary school unable even to read and write properly. Naturally the ones who achieve greater success tend to go on to tertiary education and the quality of those coming out of school to an industry like ours leaves an enormous amount to be desired", he said adding that he was struggling to find quality school leavers to work in his company.

This warning comes before more than 250,000 are to receive their A-level results. Many academics have already said that the rate of students taking physics subject has gone down consistently over the years with students picking up easier subjects to boost their A-level grades.