Business hours call for schools by chief
More schools need to be run in tandem with business hours to prepare students for the world of work, the chief overseeing new investment to the Black Country has said.
Stewart Towe, chairman of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership wants to see a new wave of university technical colleges.
The multi-million pound schools run eight-week terms with the school day starting at 8.30am and finishing at 5pm. Mr Towe, who runs Smethwick-based metal company the Hadley Group, made the call.
It came as the LEP finalises its bid for a City Deal which it has to submit by January 15. The deal would give it more control over millions of pounds of government funds to create jobs and invest in new infrastructure.
The LEP board is made up of the four council leaders and five business people.
Mr Towe said: "The development of university technical colleges in the Black Country is a really important aspect of beefing up our skills in relation to education. They are run along different lines with eight-week terms and 8.30am to 5pm days. Employers like Jaguar Land Rover will want two years experience of work as well the skills.
"So we need businesses prepared to train people and willing to see them move on to something else. We need to create the right sort of jobs but make sure that we keep people in the area."
The £9.5 million Black Country University Technical College opened on the site of the former Sneyd Community School in Walsall in 2011.
Another is being opened on the same site in 2014.