Supercharge Uptake of Careers in Energy Sector at all Levels of Education

Those who design courses for Curriculum for Excellence need to better harness the experience and skills of professionals in the renewables/energy/manufacturing/engineering sectors to motivate proportionately more young people to take up careers in these sectors and their associated supply chains. Maths, technology and the sciences need to be made much more appealing and of more obvious practical applicability to all young people, but especially girls. This could be supplemented by: increasing (women) STEM ambassador school visits; developing & promoting relevant combined HND/degree/apprenticeship courses; introducing more national challenge competitions open to schools/colleges which hone relevant skills & knowledge; augmented awareness-raising of pupils/students/parents to skilled, well rewarded, long-term careers in these sectors; and coordinated industry site visits and work placements.

Scotland has a world-class tertiary education sector and marine renewables/energy/engineering industries which could help us meet the Climate Emergency and our renewable energy needs, but only if significantly scaled up at pace. We need to provide supercharged, targeted educational opportunities for our young people which will produce a new, homegrown renewable energy workforce which has learned and take over from the outgoing workforce as part of the Just Transition.