Board Member Speaks to Education Select Committee

CAN board member Matthew McCarrick  recently contributed to a Parliamentary Education Committee Oral Evidence Session on Post-16 Education held at Westminster.

The aim of the meeting was to gather opinions from business leaders, particularly from SME’s across the country and a diverse variety of sectors, on what is working and what could be improved with regards to all the current pathways of Post 16 education – namely, A-levels, apprenticeships, the new T-levels and other routes whether available or hypothetical to prepare young people to be able to actively participate in industry.

Matthew was well placed within the panel given McCarrick Construction’s history of apprentice employment and repeated success at the National Apprentice Awards. He also has a wider perspective gained from discussions with other members of regional committee Construction Alliance North East (CAN) where he is a board member.

Matthew said “We feel, and this was agreed across the panel, that 16-year-olds are sorely lacking in work experience – they have no idea what the world of work feels like, the basics that are expected of them.

The other problem with having no work experience is that having never tried the careers they’re expected to commit to, they sometimes find themselves signed up to pathways that they discover on Day 1 are not what they want in life. We have our apprentices in for work experience before they sign up and this has helped us many times in the past when potential apprentices interview well and then during their work experience realise that on-site life is not for them. Which is great- they re-evaluate their options before September, and we are able to offer the place to someone else rather than it be wasted.”

The opportunity to speak came from a recent CAN visit to Westminster – CAN lobbies both regionally and nationally on behalf or local companies.

The full discussion can be seen on our YouTube channel