The Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) has announced the start of a partnership with STEM curriculum specialists Primary Engineer to help address the skills gap.

“Our partnership with Primary Engineer is going to be a key one for us and with Skills being one of our four pillars this new relationship will help us reach children and young people. Our partnership will be across both Highways and also Transport Technology,” says LCRIG CEO Paula Claytonsmith.

The new partnership will not only address the skills shortage but will also focus on the ageing engineering workforce and improving the public perception of the sector that sees highway engineering as a mix of hi-viz jackets, “bad roads and potholes” with a series of primary school education programmes.

Says Claytonsmith: “I think we need to be encouraging interest in our sector at a much, much younger age. It has been bothering me that we aren’t looking early enough to help solve the long-term issues of future shortages in our sector. Globally there is a predicted skills shortage, this means every sector will be looking to attract future generations so there will be competition to attract people into sectors. I also think we need to encourage young girls, wider academic backgrounds and promotion into diverse communities that reflect our national make-up.”

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