Siemens Director Urges Michael Gove to Get Businesses Into UK Schools

Education Secretary Michael Gove and schools regulator Ofsted need to do more to get businesses into UK classrooms, according to a manufacturing boss at Siemens.

Brian Holliday, a director at Siemens UK, told IBTimes UK he wants Ofsted to support the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills's (Bis) drive to link firms with University Technical Colleges (UTCs).

UTCs, a type of free school, were created by the coalition government to offer 14 to 19-year-olds the chance to take vocational courses.

Each school is supported by a university, a range of local employers and often a further education college.

"I would like to see is full support for those programmes from the Department for Education and Ofsted," Holliday said.

"I would like the regulator to go to those schools and recognise that there should be a different framework for judging their success, beyond the academic progress of the students."

Siemens supports three UTCs in the UK, including a school in the Black Country and Lincoln.

"As an employer, we're exposing young people in UTCs to the latest technology, employer-led projects and an insight into the world of work," Holliday said.

"We're interested in outcomes - how many of these kids end up in education, employment and training as a result [of going to a UTC]?

"We would like to see the education system reflect the needs of business [by] engaging with schools, which is what Bis is doing."

Holliday, who spoke to IBTimes UK at the the International Festival for Business 2014 in New Brighton, Merseyside, also called for a joint initiative between businesses, schools and Bis in order to get employers into schools.

"There are teachers who aren't exposed to the world of work as we are, that can't really provide that careers advice and input," Holliday argued.

"But, of course, recognising the problem and then solving it as a single employer is difficult unless you've got a joined up programme that you can become part of."