Skill Shortage Clouds Prospects for British Energy

An article in the New York Times, Global Business section dated October 18, 2010 reports on the "lack of engineering and technical skills in Britain" that pose a threat to the countries abilities to expand its renewable energy industry.  The problem is traced to lack of effective science education in British schools and universities.  Sounds familiar to reports from the United States.

They cite a 2008 study that revealed that one in four secondary schools in Britain did not have a physics teacher and this was almost 50% in urban London schools.  It was also estimated that 26 % of those teaching physics were leaving or retiring.  Graduates with degrees in engineering are often drawn to other sectors, for example, the financial sector "in search of better job security and higher salaries."

All of this means that there will not "be enough trained and experienced workers to install, run or mainatin the technology that [renewable energy] will require to achieve its full potential..."

Is suspect that in the United States, the results are quite similar!


Source:


Loftus, L.  "Skill Shortage Clouds Prospects for British Energy"  The New York Times, October 18, 2010.