More stem research needed for economy
Monday, 5 November 2007
Letters to the editor should be sent to: 124-144 Royal Avenue, Belfast BT1 1EB. E-mail: writeback@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
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The Belfast Telegraph editorial 'We can't afford another Seagate' (October 30) which stated '... concentrate on high-tech design and to produce graduates with the right qualifications' was a fine sentiment, but as anyone at all levels in education and industry knows, the number of Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) graduates has stalled and, in most areas, the trend is very much downwards.
Courses in many areas have all but disappeared. The reasons for this are various, and not confined to the UK and the Republic, and starkly contrasts with the Far East, where the sciences and mathematics are very much seen as crucial to the growth of the economy.
For example, every member of the Chinese Politburo is a professional
engineer of some kind. With 47% of all Chinese graduates majoring in STEM
subjects our obsession in schools, and beyond, with courses in flower
arranging, wine tasting and casino management, very much paints a picture!
Our neglect of the 'harder' subjects, such as physics, mathematics and
languages and our neglect of careers in the sciences, is fast producing a
society with no possibility of increasing its intrinsic wealth and weaning
itself off handouts.
As Seagate shows, the only real source of income is in manufacturing
industry and agriculture; providing goods that can be sold to other nations.
While important, the service industry, with some notable exceptions such as
tourism, does little more than circulate money.
Perhaps the
Belfast Telegraph could encourage debate and help by doing an in-depth
investigation of the state of our education ethos?
Dr Sid
Katzen, Newtownabbey