Weaknesses in the national curriculum have created a ‘skills gap’, teaching professionals told a business forum.

Frustrated school, college and university representatives said there was an increasing lack of suitable candidates entering manufacturing and engineering jobs.

Relevant courses can only be supplied if there is enough demand, the Sussex Manufacturing Forum debate heard.

It is hoped that encouraging more pupils at secondary schools to take STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) at GCSE and A-level will help towards this.

Chris Coopey, forum facilitator and head of manufacturing at sponsor Carpenter Box chartered accountants, said: “Manufacturers need new talent to develop and grow in the future which is what the sector is being encouraged to do.

“More engagement is needed between the education and manufacturing sectors, but the basic problem of there being not enough young people being encouraged into the sector will not be resolved until Government understands that the education system needs to be specifically tasked with producing the skills that the nation needs, instead of obsessing about academic subjects for academic sake.”

Opportunities Dr Shona Campbell, head of knowledge transfer partnership at Brighton University, said: “It is vitally important to provide students and recent graduates with opportunities to develop employability skills and engage with industry to achieve this.

“We need to focus on practical ways of engaging with the industry that increases the skills of young engineers whilst offering employers cost-effective opportunities to identify their future workforce.”

Undergraduate placements, graduate internships and knowledge transfer partnerships – a scheme involving the recruitment of a graduate to lead a challenging project within a company – were presented as possible solutions.

Keith McCormick, assistant headteacher at Blatchington Mill School, Hove, who trained as a production engineer, said Government policy requiring schools to follow traditional academic routes had resulted in fewer pupils considering vocational subjects such as design and engineering.

Nicola Midgely, headteacher of Rye College, called for better engagement between schools and manufacturers.

For more information go to www.sussexmanufacturingforum.

com.