Craft Shortages!

by Martin Gilbert

THERE is a national shortage of crafts people: plumbers, electricians, joiners and others.  Academics have been blamed for admitting too many students.  But the charge against universities is unfounded coming too often from those who do not know what universities are for or what they achieve.

It can be seen as a part of the present climate of devaluing and opposing creative and critical thinking (dare one say “anti-intellectual”). Examples of that process abound:- secondary schools cutting classes in drama, art; dance and music.  All where individuality and creativity can be nurtured. Funding for any kind of community arts is getting increasing scarce.  In spite of lip service being given to “localism” and “community” Local Authorities are forced into impossible decisions.  Short term thinking supports that negative climate.

Another cause is women feeling inhibited or being subtley obstructed from employment however good their skills might be. During both World Wars women filled benches in factories and engineering offices.  Demobilization, when the men came home, sent such women back to their kitchens.

One remedy to fill the skills gaps and get more school leavers into jobs is apprenticeships.  But they would only re arrange the dole que. Too often the apprentice would be fired on finishing his time, often a seven year period.  On-line learning has much shortened the time of some genuine apprenticeship schemes.   But recollections of Youth Training Schemes allow for much scepticism.  A main concern of the training industry was profits for its Directors and share holders rather than it’s consumers.