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The funding will benefit over 80 schools across the UK
This week, the UK’s largest altnet CityFibre has pledge £150,000 to support education charity STEM Learning on its mission to improve STEM learning across the UK.
The funds, which will be delivered over three years, will help fund STEM Learning modules in 80 schools within the Project Gigabit footprint.
These modules include Computer Clusters, I Belong, and ENTHUSE Partnerships, which focus on the delivery of computer science and IT lessons, supporting girls to pursue careers in STEM, and enhancing young people’s awareness and understanding of STEM subjects, respectively.
In addition, the funds will help provide additional KS1 and KS2 resources through teaching support platform Explorify.
“We believe in the power of technology and education to transform lives and, with this partnership, we aim to bridge the digital skills gap and help inspire the next generation of digital innovators to pursue a career in STEM,” said Stacey King, Senior Partnership Manager at CityFibre. “Our partnership with STEM Learning underlines CityFibre’s social value commitments and, as part of the Project Gigabit programme, we are investing in the future and equipping young people with the skills they need to thrive in a digital world.”
With around a fifth of the existing engineering workforce expected to retire by 2028, the growing shortage of engineers is becoming a major pain point for the UK economy. A study published last year suggested that the UK could be facing a shortage of one million engineers by 2030, potentially hamstringing up to £542 billion in infrastructure projects.
This skills shortage is particularly acute for the UK’s telecoms industry. Data from TechUK suggests that there will be a shortage of around 30,000 telecoms engineers over the next decade, describing the situation as “heading for a cliff edge”.
Is the UK telecoms sector doing enough to support the next generation of telecoms engineers? Join the discussion at Connected North, live in Manchester
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