Getting youngsters on the right track
Sun 1 Aug 2010
A couple of years ago, the idea of a National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering was simply a pipe dream. Following the announcement that the academy has now secured £3 million of government funding - subject to approval of its Business Plan - Rail Technology Magazine spoke to its Programme Director, Gil Howarth, to find out just how far the dream has come
How did the idea for the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering come about?
The original idea dates back to a conversation which I had with Pete Waterman more than two years ago. We began talking about what the government was, or rather, wasn’t doing with regards to investing in skills for young people in the railways.
Although we could see a lot of government money going into various training schemes, it did not appear that those attending the courses actually had any better prospects of a meaningful job - Pete and I felt that much of the funding was not being targeted properly. It was then that we decided to see what we could do.
So what issues is the NSARE working to address?
We have found that the rail industry is not as attractive to young people as it should be, in comparison with other industries. We are embarking on a campaign within schools and universities to encourage young people to join the railways.
In total we estimate that there are around 500 private sector training companies providing rather a mixed bag of railway engineering training, but only half a dozen FE colleges providing railway engineering qualifications. We will be introducing an accreditation process for training organisations and trainers to ensure that our employees receive the very best training.
We especially want to encourage employers to provide young people with high quality training in the form of apprenticeships leading to jobs once they have qualified.
How did you get the £3 million funding from government?
The national skills academies were set up four years ago and every year the government would invite various industry sectors to put forward bids for their own academy and then allot ring fenced funding to four of those. This funding would then have to be matched by the industry itself with the aim being that eventually the academies would become self funding.
So we decided to put in a bid and after giving lots of presentations, writing a high level detailed business plan and eventually gaining the personal support of the last transport secretary Lord Adonis, we were awarded the funding earlier this year.
So what is the next stage now?
We are currently preparing a detailed Business Plan for submission to the Government in September , hopefully for approval in October. In the meantime we are speaking to businesses throughout the rail industry to explain what NSARE will be able to contribute to the industry, and to seek their support so that at the end of three years of years, NSARE too will become self funding.
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