New formula needed for science

Science, engineering and technology hold the key to Ireland’s future success, yet students are turning away from these areas in droves. So how can Ireland halt this trend? Some major Irish players in the multinational industry told us what they think

DR KEVIN MARSHALL

HEAD OF EDUCATION,

MICROSOFT IRELAND

At the moment in Microsoft Ireland, we are hiring the talent that we need. The real issue is in thinking about the future. Things are moving very, very fast. It’s actually impossible to pinpoint the skills that are going to be needed in the future because technology is changing so rapidly. We need a workforce that can adapt successfully to a changing environment.

The problems and issues that we face as a business are multidisciplinary and open-ended. Communication, teamwork, flexibility, the ability to work across boundaries, and taking account of cultural sensitivities are all very important, and as new technology emerges, we have to be agile and think globally.

The thing about preparing for that that is that we can’t just focus investment and energy on third and fourth level. We need to be looking at the continuum of education provision.

The key for this country is to make a move towards enquiry-based education. The primary school curriculum has used a child-centred approach to education. Group work and problem-solving is encouraged. But the technology infrastructure in schools is not good. Learning needs to be enabled with technology.

We need to collectively sit down and think about what the 21st-century classroom will look like and how we’re going to fund it. Because we are starting from a low base, we have the opportunity to leapfrog other countries further ahead of us.

The exam focus of secondary school might reduce the creativity encouraged in primary school. Third level suffers from the same problem to a certain extent. We need people who can adapt and change to their environment, not people who simply work rigidly within it.

Ireland has a huge advantage in that we have great teachers in primary and secondary school. Teaching in the UK and the US simply does not attract the calibre of candidates that it does here. We need to provide teachers with the skills and the technology to maximise their potential.

There is a lot of good work being done at junior and senior cycle at post-primary level, but we need to look at accelerating that. It’s not all about maths and science either. English, history and art are just as important because we need to take a multidisciplinary approach.

Sometimes, with a moment of crisis comes great clarity. We need to recognise that technology is the new literacy. It is that important. This isn’t just a Microsoft issue – this is an Ireland Inc issue.

DR PAUL DUFFY

VICE PRESIDENT OF MANUFACTURING FOR IRELAND AND SINGAPORE,

PFIZER IRELAND PHARMACEUTICALS

In making the decision to invest in biotechnology, Pfizer had many options around the world that were perhaps more financially attractive, but Ireland has a good track record of providing us with good quality people. We’re spending €190 million on the biologics manufacturing plant in Shanbally and, as a company, it’s one of our first ventures into the biotechnology field.

The plant is a step up the value chain. It’s not just basic manufacturing. It’s more a case of development/manufacturing as we refine and perfect the processes as we go.

We are able to hire quality graduates in Ireland but, in the Shanbally plant, we’re looking at hiring 100 people, not 1,000. We did find over the past number of years that we were hiring more European graduates to supplement our pool of people. We certainly have a higher number of non-Irish employees now. You don’t have a huge supply of people within Ireland. That said, we can do what we’re doing today.

One of the aims of the smart economy is to double the number of PhD students in Ireland by 2013. It’s a fine ambition, but we have to ask ourselves: how will we do that?

So much money has been invested in third and fourth level, in Science Foundation Ireland for example, but if you don’t get people interested early on, you’re not making the most of that investment.

The focus needs to be rebalanced. It has to start in secondary school. It’s a long time since I did science in school, but the labs and facilities for science aren’t exactly attractive even now. We are, of course, facing budgetary pressures and decisions need to be made, but we should put money into this.

Companies have a role to play in supporting the education system. We can help foster interest in science by promoting what we do to students and career guidance teachers.

While there is a gap to fill in Ireland, we do have a solid foundation on which to work. We have a lot to be proud of so far.

Within the education system, we have to look at two potential student streams. There are those students who are coming out of secondary school, but then there are also the people who have been made redundant, who could potentially be retrained. You’re not going to convert people into computer scientists with a six-week Fás course. It can’t happen overnight, but I certainly wouldn’t abandon that group.

There are two things that will enable Ireland to survive and thrive after this recession. One is the focus on education and producing top quality people. The other is managing the cost side. These are things that people will pay for, but not at three or four times the cost of other countries. If we can manage the costs and build the capabilities, the companies will come.

MARTIN MURPHY

MANAGING DIRECTOR, HP IRELAND

Ireland as an international location is the long-term vision. We need to be seen internationally as a location for creating, trading and commercialising intellectual property. If the skills are here, business will follow.

The ICT sector represents one-third of Ireland’s exports and employs 70,000 people in Ireland. We are acutely aware of the need to provide for the industry. But you can’t base a future plan for a country on skills that may or may not be there.

Investment has been terrific at third level, but our position has always been that the key is investing in ICT early on. We haven’t invested sufficiently at primary and secondary level. We need to ensure that we’re delivering as much of the curriculum as possible through ICT.

We should look at incentivising science and maths as subjects. I think there needs to be bonus points available – provided they are linked to subjects in the same area at third level. You want to avoid the problem of people taking the bonus points and going off to study medicine or something like that.

I wouldn’t ignore other subject areas either. Languages can greatly compliment science and technology, for example.

Investment in education is an appreciating asset, but it’s not just about Government funding – maybe there should be more partnerships with industry. Obviously the strategy and leadership need to come from the Government, but industry is happy, almost impatient, to play a part. Time is of the essence.

The bar is being raised all the time. Skills requirements are going up, so the skills in the pipeline have to go up. Investment in technology for the delivery of education in Ireland is a national imperative. It is an investment in Ireland Inc.

EMMET BROWNE

GENERAL MANAGER, WYETH IRELAND

Science really could be the key to moving Ireland up the value chain, but there is an undeniable skills deficit in science and maths here. It’s very easy to attack the efforts that are being made already but, in fairness to the Government, they have focused hugely on this area. We have seen a real willingness to continue moving in the right direction.

There are groups looking at the immediate ways that the deficit can be improved, but I believe that we really need to take a long-term view.

Of course we need high-quality science graduates for the industry, but even more important than that is the need to create inquisitive minds for the overall good of the country. We need people who wonder how things work and how they can be improved – people who see a car and want to look under the bonnet to see how it works. Science is the kind of subject that encourages that way of thinking.

Science has got to be introduced in primary school. We can then lay the foundations, showing children that they are surrounded by science – that it’s not some dry subject in a book. If we can build a passion for the subject, a passion to try and see how things work, it will help us hugely both in Wyeth and as a country if we want to move towards building a smart economy.

We need to take a look at second level too. At the moment, students are looking at subjects in terms of how they perceive them to be marked – how much work you do, weighed against how many points you can get. Chemistry teachers are doing their best, but there are insufficient facilities for the practical side of the subject. It makes it very difficult to convey any excitement or fun.

If science is introduced early enough, it won’t be frightening. If it’s left until secondary, all students see is a massive chemistry book, full of stuff they think they know nothing about, coming at them at 100 miles an hour. Of course they’re going to be put off.

The success story that science has been for Ireland to date needs to be told. We have a population of just four and a half million people and yet we’re the biggest net exporter of pharmaceuticals in the world. That’s an incredible fact and few people actually know about it.

The next steps are crucial. We need to define how we are going to achieve the aims we set ourselves in the strategy for a smart economy. Companies have to have strategies for the next seven or eight years. A country can have a strategy for the next 20 years. We need to be doing this now.

The appliance of science: are we making progress?

KEVIN MARSHALL

“...the technology infrastructure in schools is not good. Learning needs to be enabled with technology.”

- ICT facilities in Irish schools are among the worst internationally. One in three 15-year-olds has never used a computer in school.

MARTIN MURPHY

“We should look at incentivising science and maths as subjects. I think there need to be bonus points available – provided they are linked to subjects in the same area at third level.”

- Unlikely. Minister for Education Batt OKeeffe opposed the idea of bonus points for maths in February.

PAUL DUFFY

“It has to start in secondary school. The labs and facilities for science arent exactly attractive even now.”

- Grants for physics and chemistry were abolished in the October Budget.

EMMET BROWNE

“Science has got to be introduced in primary school.”

- Improving. Science is on the primary curriculum but its not at its centre yet.

MARTIN MURPHY

“ a great example of what everyone has to be doing at this level.”

- Northern Ireland spend on ICT in schools: €75 million per year. Republic of Ireland: €14 million..