Industry argues over graduates

Exclusive by Brian Warner



A row is brewing over an imminent industry action plan aimed at staunching the flow of high-fliers away from construction courses.

A draft report - a joint initiative between the Construction Industry Council (CIC), the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and the government - is due to emerge within the next few weeks, outlining a series of measures to woo more graduates into the industry.

One of the report's most controversial recommendations is likely to be an "easing" of entry standards onto university and college courses.

CITB chairman Hugh Try said the action plan was all about "opening up opportunities".

Try also claimed that engineers are "going in the wrong direction" by insisting on higher entry qualifications, which has brought an angry response from the Institution of Civil Engineers, which is also contributing to the report.

ICE director Julien Parrott said: "It is madness to say that. We're not about to lower standards, and we're not making things more difficult."

Other measures likely to appear in the report are calls for a "broadening of course content", which Try said would be aimed at students "who might, for example, otherwise go for sports-related or hotel management courses because they are easier".

The report is also likely to call for the industry to sponsor more graduates, but will warn that if construction courses continue to be axed, universities and colleges will find it difficult to gear up again when demand increases.

It is also looking to encourage the industry to offer better pay and conditions to attract graduates and to attract greater numbers of older people and ethic minorities into its ranks.

Try said: "This will be very much a report for action - not one to sit on the shelf."

The report comes on the back of a meeting between industry, government and university representatives in London last week.

John Hobson, director of the government's Construction Industry Directorate, told the meeting: "The skills shortage across the industry is a concern for employers and the government. But we must ensure that when the numbers of school leavers seeking a career in construction again begin to rise, as they will, there is the capacity in universities and colleges to accommodate them."

Hobson was standing in for construction minister Brian Wilson, who was called away from the meeting at short notice.