Class of Your Own (COYO) is bringing together education and industry leaders to address the growing skills crisis in the UK.
Working closely with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and other leading professional bodies, COYO is holding simultaneous events across the UK, which will see 50 industry senior executives and 50 head teachers discuss how they can raise awareness of careers in Construction, Engineering, Architecture, Surveying and Property – sectors of the built environment which provide progression routes for young people studying Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects.
The event has already attracted the attention of highly influential industry leaders including Peter Hansford, Government Chief Construction Advisor, HM Government, and executives from companies Mott McDonald and Turner & Townsend.
We’ve had a fantastic initial response to the event, with some of the country’s most eminent leaders in the sector pledging their support. The skills gap is something each and every business in the built environment up and down the UK has a responsibility to tackle. Schools require a lot more focused support than we as an industry are currently providing.
By getting school and industry leaders around the table to discuss both the challenges and the opportunities surrounding education in the built environment, we hope to determine how we can practically address this issue before it gets even worse.
Following the recession, the construction industry is continually improving and represents a fantastic career choice for school leavers. However, without the industry professionals to design and build the structures of the future, this upward trend won’t continue.
COYO’s ‘50/50’ London debate will spark a series of events across the UK, at locations including Manchester and the South West. The outcomes from the sessions will be revealed during Digital Construction Week at COYO’s Education Summit on the 20th October.
