Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Manufacturers Bemoan "Dearth of Career Counseling"
Yet another report (this one by NAM, the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte Consulting) reports that a strong majority (83 percent) of manufacturers are struggling to serve customers because there are not enough qualified workers. Read more here.
Part of the problem is the image of manufacturing but skills are also in short supply. The NAM survey cited "significant dissatisfaction among manufacturers with the quality of kindergarten-to-grade 12 education and the dearth of adequate career counseling." A NAM representative summarized the challenge, "We must update the image of modern manufacturing in the minds of young people, their parents and educators, and encourage more students to study math and science or follow a technical career path."
One local group trying to make a difference in this area is the Advanced Manufacturing Careers Collaborative. There are many wonderful resources available on their website. Check it out.
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2 comments:
Vanessa Lund has, in my view, hit on the most important political issue in the American public square: How do we reform education in an integrated and systematic way that prepares high school students for success in the working world. The solution:
1) requiring career counseling for all students 15 and older;
2) moving students toward college prep or vocational ed programs based on counseling assessments,
3) developing state-of-the-art high school vo-tech programs for students whose talents and interests are oriented toward these (surprisingly well-paid) career choices, and
4) creating 'guerilla' truancy programs to ensure that students follow through with these training options (read: dropping out will not be permitted, no how, no way).
And, a note to Vanessa: this is the centerpiece of the domestic policy platform of a new political party: The American Progressive Party. For more info, email me at stevecimino@starpower.net.
We also advocate mandatory national service program that will help young people to further their career development through civilian and military options. We are tough, realistic, and pragmatic, with a sound public philosophy and an innovative platform. Nuff said.
One more key point: special incentives will be offered in our national service program to young people who wish to serve as tutors and mentors to at-risk youth as well as truant officers.
These are the 'boots on the ground' that will help to keep young people in school, in training, and on track to a hopeful, capable future.
I urge you to email us and check us out. Our public philosophy is grounded in political theory, developmental psychology, sociology, and ecology. Our platform is filled with innovative policies that have polled well, though they will never be embraced by the, um, less courageous (and sold out) parties that currently run American politics. We are the 'thunder from the moderate middle' that has a real chance to engage the hopes and imagination of a broad spectrum of intelligent and often alienated voters.
I am happy to e-mail any interested persons a summary of our main tenets and policy platform. Again, my e-mail is stevecimino@starpower.net.
Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
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