Action must be taken now to ensure a flow of technically qualified graduates and technicians and avoid a future "chip blight" as a result of the recent downturn in the IT sector, writes Ita McGuigan.
One bad year for our computer chip-based economy should not lead us in to making decisions that will create a "chip blight" in years to come.
Our move from a largely agrarian economy to a technology-driven one took little more than one generation - and this did not happen by chance, but by design. That design was one that focused on high-tech industry and heavy investment in a knowledge-based economy. This manifested itself throughout the 1980s when a high percentage of graduates were from an engineering or technical background and they provided the intellectual raw material that fuelled the high-tech driven boom of the 1990s.
Unfortunately that high-tech boom is in danger of being starved of its most vital component - technically qualified workers.
The figures earlier this week on CAO applications for third-level courses showed science, computing and engineering accounting for 21 per cent of all degree applicants, compared to almost 25 per cent last year .
Unfortunately, this is not a new trend, but what does distinguish this year's fall-off is the decline on computer science degree courses.
The computer science figures represent a short-term reaction to a high-profile external problem, but also highlight a longer-term problem with science, technology and engineering- related courses generally. This situation looks worse when combined with yesterday's Leaving Cert statistics.
The results obtained this year in Higher Level maths, where the numbers getting honours dropped five percentage points, and in physics, where the numbers getting honours fall well behind other subjects like Irish, English and art, paint a picture of a continued drift away from the subjects that form the bedrock of a knowledge-based economy.
This is further borne out when you consider that now barely 10 per cent of third-level graduates are engineers, compared to a figure of 15 per cent in the 1980s. This fall-off in interest is clearly linked to some high-profile casualties of the recent downturn in the global economy, which had an inevitable knock-on effect here.
However, it would be a serious mistake to turn our backs on the opportunities provided by an IT sector here that employs 57,700 people at last count.
Whatever the vagaries of the global economy, the IT revolution of recent years is not going to be rolled back and the challenge for Ireland is to make sure that we are positioned to take full advantage of a resurgent world market, when it appears.
The Institution of Engineers of Ireland (IEI) has targeted the downward trend in participation and pass rates in the physical sciences (maths, physics, chemistry) at Leaving Certificate level as one of the places to begin to redress the balance and make sure that our future skills needs are met.
With this in mind the IEI launched the STEPS programme (Science, Technology and Engineering Programme for Schools), a component of which is an engineering-based road-show which tours the country visiting schools and will physically meet with over 50,000 second-level students.
To assess their attitudes to science and engineering-based subjects, and possible career choices, the IEI undertook a survey of more than 800 12-15 year olds from different schools. The main results of that survey came as a surprise to those who feared that students were simply "switching off" from technical careers.
Of the 800 students surveyed:
60 per cent had considered a career in engineering - but within that group, 77 per cent of boys had while only 44 per cent of girls had;
76 per cent of girls were more interested in a technical career after the roadshow and 87 per cent of Junior cycle students were more interested in taking a science or technical subject for the Leaving Certificate;
75 per cent of Senior cycle students said they would pick a science rather than a language subject if they had to do an extra subject for the Leaving Certificate.
These results suggest that Junior and Senior cycle students are ready and interested in studying and pursuing careers in the scientific and technical fields. When presented with the diversity of careers available and when they have the opportunity to meet with people from industry, their curiosity is triggered and they express an interest in finding out more about what they have seen at the Roadshow.
Any negative feelings towards the IT sector as a result of the recent downturn are swept away when confronted with the diverse career prospects open to technical graduates. What is more, they find out that their skills are internationally tradable and they can travel and work around the globe with their science or engineering qualification as their passport to that lifestyle.
To ensure that this type of interest is nurtured and developed a number of actions need to be taken.
This will include providing a hands-on practical introduction to science and technology at primary level to stimulate the pupils' interest in their physical environment and the technology that surrounds them in their everyday lives.
There also needs to be more interaction between industry and schools so that the courses are made relevant and interesting - the STEPS programme is one example of this type of interaction.
To make sure that the teaching of these subjects is also relevant and interesting credits should be given to those people from industry who decide to enter the teaching profession - while existing science and technology teachers should be given an opportunity and allowance to spend time in industry.
The time to act is now if we are to ensure a flow of technically qualified graduates and technicians.
If we want to sustain our position as a leading edge, technology-driven and knowledge-based economy, then we need the raw materials to drive that ambition.
Those raw materials are the graduates that created the modern economy we enjoy today and who will, if encouraged, help sustain and grow that economy for years to come.
Ita McGuigan manages the STEPS Project for the Institution of Engineers of Ireland.