CSI and Carol Vorderman play part in STEM talent boost scheme

Is solving the UK’s technical talent shortfall rocket science? Maybe – the latest scheme to tackle this much-publicised problem includes a space scientist, media personality Carol Vorderman and learning activities modeled on television hit crime drama CSI.
Tue, 29 Oct 2013Is solving the UK's technical talent shortfall rocket science? Maybe – the latest scheme to tackle this much-publicised problem includes a space scientist, media personality Carol Vorderman and learning activities modeled on television hit crime drama CSI.

The UK’s favourite mathematician was joined by Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE last week as Gazelle Colleges Group launched two new STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] learning centres in its colleges, as part of a £1.2m investment.

Skills shortages in engineering and technical disciplines continue to be cited as one of the greatest talent issues for UK businesses in areas including oil & gas and manufacturing.

The new centres, in Gazelle’s Barking & Dagenham and North Hertfordshire Colleges, include learning activities such as those based on CSI, with students learning the skills and processes behind crime scene analysis, fingerprint testing, and creating e-fits of suspects.

Gazelle executive chair Fintan Donohue spoke to Recruiter magazine for the education sector focus in the September edition of the magazine, talking about the group’s entrepreneurial approach to education, which it is now taking into STEM curricula.

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