ASML has proposed making hundreds of engineers available to help solve the shortage of teachers in technical education. It involves all levels of education, according to CEO Peter Wennink. He says this in an interview with Innovation Originals.
With this, Wennink wants to contribute to the parliamentary motion successfully tabled by Eppo Bruins (Christian Union) late last year, in which he called for better cooperation between education and professionals from business life. The aim is to address the increasingly dire shortage of technical staff.
Several iniatives are now being taken to attract more technical staff. For instance, the Techniekpakt, which is supported by VSNU, FME and 4TU, was updated last year. It incorporated even more intentions around the use of technical 'hybrid teachers' from industry. The Brainport Tech & Skills Agreement concluded last year also addresses this. Wennink is now coming up with a concrete proposal to give shape to these calls. "I think that's how we can find 500 engineers at ASML who immediately say 'I'm going to do that'," he tells Innovation Originals.
Thresholds
Commenting on Wennink's initiative, FME said it was happy with the extra 'boost'. "The initiative comes largely from him, our task now is to get it done," it said on its website, among other things. FME says it has been in discussions with the ministries of education and economic affairs for some time. However, the advocate for the technology industry also states that many of its members are running into barriers when it comes to setting up 'hybrid teaching'. Wennink agrees in the same interview. "Together with FME and the Ministry of Education, we are already working on this. We are going to run pilots. But in doing so, we do run up against the rules at the ministry: the people involved have no teaching qualifications, for example, so that is difficult. But surely that should be solvable if you do it together?" Education minister Van Engelshoven said last year that she was "sympathetic to this".
What does Minister Bruins' motion entail? It says, among other things, that the motion asks the government "to identify the bottlenecks experienced by entrepreneurs in finding well-trained technical staff, such as in public-private partnerships, hybrid teachers, guest lectures and Lifelong Development, and to come up with possible solutions, fiscal or otherwise, for these.
That fiscal part might require new legislation. Wennink: "We are willing to bear the salary costs. But it would be nice if in return we could get some discount on their payroll taxes." For this, for instance, a WBSO ("Wet Bevordering Speur- en Ontwikkelingswerk", meant to encourage Research & Development via tax breaks) adapted to this proposal could be devised. "Then you are talking about a WBTO: Technology Education Promotion Act."
Ambassadors
Wennink said ASML already has hundreds of 'ambassadors' who support education on a voluntary basis. But all in all, the problem is broader, he argues. "All these innovations and all this technology in our society help to create a division in your society, between the haves and havenots. Do you belong or not, do you participate or are you excluded? And that is why it is so incredibly important that we focus on supporting education. That we work with governments to think about a hybrid education system, making sure that our engineers get into the classroom."
Source: Innovation Origins/FME
Photo: ASML
