In Woerden and the surrounding area, they have a dream: to become the heart of tech education in central Netherlands. The arrival of a TechCampus is at least another step closer. Several parties are in talks to start placing students from next September.
Talks are currently taking place with Woerden schools about accommodation as well as participation in the TechCampus. This is confirmed by Marlous Birkhoff of Woerdens Techniek Talent (WTT). There should be a building with instruction rooms and equipment to provide, support and promote technical education.
In the regional business community in Woerden and its surroundings, where many manufacturing companies are located, there is a huge shortage of technical staff. Every manufacturing company we have visited has the same desire: to enthuse more young people for a technical profession. However, according to the AD, the collected regional business associations, the Platform Bedrijven Utrecht West (PBWU), argue that supply and demand do not match well. ''A huge shortage of technical staff is causing problems in business operations,'' said PBWU chairman Arwin Brouwer.
Systematically demolished
Paul Oostelelaken of Kiremnko, a company that develops machines for the potato processing industry, also feels by everything that something needs to be done. "Technical education has been systematically demolished by our government," he says in an interview with OnderNamen. "This was initiated 40 years ago; the Netherlands had to become a service economy and all companies in the manufacturing industry suffer from that. But instead of waiting for efforts from The Hague, I prefer to focus on the regional initiative Woerdens Techniek Talent."
The TechCampus is the next project that Oosterlaken, recently chairman of WTT, is focusing on. "In our vision, there should be a building in Woerden with instructional spaces and equipment to support and promote technical education," he says in the same interview in OnderNamen. "In this, we want to provide space for primary schools, but also for secondary education and mbo. For the latter branch, we hope to bring education and business together in a location in Woerden, so that this region is also covered in terms of technical education. With satellite labs from companies, we want to offer practical teaching materials, using the latest techniques. Meanwhile, WTT has a grant commitment from the municipality of Woerden and we are busy working on the plans, but we are not there yet."
Techniekdagen
There were already tech days in De Ronde Venen, Harmelen and Woerden to promote technical subjects. In Woerden this three-day event did not take place this year because WTT wants to devote the money, time and energy to setting up regional engineering education.
The headmaster of Minkema College tells AD.nl that he would like to see the subject of technology return to his school. He is therefore in talks with Kalsbeek College, WTT, the municipality and the province of Utrecht, among others, about the realisation of the Tech Campus in Woerden. It is not a question of unwillingness, he says: "We have tried all sorts of things but if no students come, it stops at some point. By the way, technology is still part of our school. At vmbo we have the direction 'tech' at vmbo framework. In the third year, students can choose whether they want to take that direction at mbo.''
TechCampus' set-up will therefore also be much broader than just one subject, in the hope that there will be more recruitment. "And the more organisations, companies and educational institutions join, the better it is," says WTT's Birkhoff.
Setting up a TechCampus requires a lot of money for machinery, tools and various facilities. Meanwhile, a grant has been obtained for the project from the Ministry of Education.
Source: AD.nl/OnderNamen/Kiremnko
Photo: Engineering Image Bank
