A government minister has praised the "can-do attitude" of a local college in training and keeping local talent.

Minister for skills Andrea Jenkyns visited a robotics lab funded by the government's strategic development fund at Darlington College, as well as the engineering department where a new workshop is about to be built.

She said: "I'm just blown away really. I've been around the robotics department and it was mind-blowing. I think it's fantastic.

"The buzz from the staff and the students, I wish you could bottle it and put it elsewhere around the country. There's a real can-do attitude here.

"Levelling up is the key, clearly. To me it's all about skills and I think, as somebody who was a student at Darlington back in 1990, I think there's so many more options for young people now than ever before.

"We're having the first T Level students next month here, which is also fabulous news.

"The T Levels are amazing. Not everybody's academic, and the T Levels are a mixture of both in a way.

"They get to have a long placement with an empoyer and put those skills into practice. T Levels have been designed by businesses and industry.

"I think there's been so much more investment that we've seen for such a long time in the skills agenda.

"I think it's also important, as a northern girl myself, that we retain the skills in the region.

"We've seen some brilliant examples here today," said the Morley and Outwood MP, who used to live in Ferryhill, referring to specialisms in engineering and robotics at the college.

"They are training them on the same kind of equipment that the local businesses use.

"We're helping to train local talent and we've got those jobs in the local area which is vitally important."

She pointed to investment in apprenticeships, "earn while you learn", the towns fund, free skills bootcamps followed by interviews with employers, the North-east Institute of Technology and a £290m investment in a network of 20 such institutes across the country.

She said: "There's £290m government funding and that's to ensure we help keep the talent in the region.

"We're specialising in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and maths] sectors and it's very much employer-driven. Nissan is involved as well."

Asked about a widening gap in A Level results between London and the North-east, she said: "I don't think it's right to concentrate on this year's results if I'm honest.

"The pandemic and those two years were very difficult for young people.

"This is the first year that you've seen students take exams since 2019.

"We did better than those results. I think the only way is up, to be honest.

"We had to have a starting point and Ofqual have worked tremendously hard to be really fair with the grading system.

"I think next year you'll start seeing that gap reclosed again.

"The pandemic paused things. It was unprecedented times that we lived in, and young people didn't get the education that they deserved really anywhere.

"I think we've put so much investment into catch-up for students to help them.

"I think there's a lot to look forward to and the most important thing for me as a skills minister is outcomes for young people.

"We want to make sure they have the right skills to get a job and to serve them for life.

"I think with the government investment in skills and the new technical qualifications and apprenticeships, I think it's a good landscape for young people today.

"Skills to me isn't just about young people. The government's whole agenda is about, wherever you are in life, there's some support for you."

The minister also visited the Department for Education and Student Loans Company in Darlington.

Darlington College deputy principal Carole Todd said: “We are looking forward to introducing T Levels to complement our extensive curriculum offer.

"We’ve gained good experience of successfully working with employers to provide excellent industrial placement opportunities over the past three years which have benefitted both students and employers alike.

"We want to share these good outcomes further to encourage yet more employers to experience the benefits first-hand of working with innovative and creative young people.”

 

 

 

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