Inventor Sir James Dyson has criticised the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, for failing to put academic rigour at the heart of plans for a new design and technology curriculum
Speaking to the Times, Dyson says the curriculum will bring together cookery, construction and horticulture when it should help to put science and maths in a practical format. He said: “This … will not inspire the invention Britain so desperately needs.”
In its consultation on the draft National Curriculum programmes of study, the government aims for D&T pupils to be given the opportunity to “create, innovate, design, make and evaluate a variety of well-crafted products”.
Students will learn how to cook and develop practical skills with materials (including textiles, horticulture, electronics, construction and mechanics.
Lack of engineers
Dyson has slammed the plans and told the Times that D&T “should be the subject where mathematical brainboxes and science whizzkids turn their bright ideas into useful products. Britain needs these practical minds if it is to compete in the world.”
He went on to state: “By 2013 we will have a deficit of 60,000 engineering graduates. In Singapore, spotting smart youngsters and combining their academic excellence with practical skills is paying dividends – 40% of graduates are engineers because applied science is valued.
“A skilled workforce has emerged and investors are flocking to Singapore. Britain needs to leverage academic excellence in the same way.”
Dyson also said that Gove had committed to “making education more rigorous and the government has shown a desire to make Britain a high technology exporter”. However, he said that Gove had forgot about D&T.
He explained: “We have until April to make him change his mind and re-engineer the D&T curriculum. Britain’s future scientists and engineers depend on it.”
