ENGINEERS Australia says local industry is setting itself up for a catastrophic shortage of qualified engineers, compounding the current skills crisis.
The organisation estimates Australia currently has a shortfall of 28,000 engineers. The next 10 years will see the current shortage doubled. It says the country has fallen into the trap of many other developed nations in neglecting the engineering sector.
According to Engineering Australia, heightened activity in the resources sector, increased infrastructure manufacturing and climate change will exacerbate the problems stemming from the shortage. The lack of engineers designing new solutions and maintaining current facilities and infrastructures will jeopardise Australia’s economic development.
Echoing the views of Endress+Hauser’s John Immelman, the engineering body claims training and education is the root of the problem.
Today’s schools have fewer than 12% of year 12 students studying advanced maths. 66% avoid related areas like physics and chemistry. Without improving the science, engineering, technology and mathematical literacy of students, the engineering sector cannot grow.
Given the amount of time it takes to a potential engineer to graduate into full-fledged employment, even if the education problems were fixed immediately, the results would take 15 years to filter through.
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