Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) with Birmingham Metropolitan College has announced a partnership to deliver Interactive Learning Programmes for schools and colleges at the JLR Education Business Partnership Centres in Solihull and Castle Bromwich,Birmingham. The Centres will be the hubs for showcasing engineering careers to pupils from across the region so they consider engineering when they start to think about their career options.
The aim of the Centres is to provide students with an insight into the world of work at JLR. They will be given the opportunity to tour the manufacturing operations to gain an insight into lean manufacturing and see first‑hand the skills and techniques needed to produce world‑class JLR vehicles.
Pupils will be given tours of the JLR facilities which will be complemented by practical interactive classroom sessions linked to the national curriculum. This will range from simulating production line challenges to pupils programming robots and taking part in a Land Rover Experience off‑road demonstration during their visits to the centres.
The College works with global companies, and are proud of the exposure their students get to some of the world's leading edge technologies and the strong links they have with companies such as Samsung, Caterpillar and other global brands.
The Principal and Chief Executive at Birmingham Metropolitan College, Dr Christine Braddock CBE commented, "We are delighted to be working in partnership with JLR as part of this fantastic project. We very much welcome the opportunity to work with a company that is as passionate as we are about providing relevant skills training for young people.
"We know the engineering industry needs to recruit 500,000 skilled workers in the next five years, so we are delighted as part of this new initiative to be able to expose pupils to the breadth of careers in engineering which are available to them."
Mike Wright, JLR Executive Director said: "At JLR, we believe that education is essential if theUKis to foster a future generation of designers and engineers. Our Education Business Partnership Centres and national educational initiatives allow us to push the STEM agenda (science, technology, engineering and maths) and our work is recognised by Business in the Community's CommunityMark, the national standard of excellence for community investment. We recently achieved Platinum rating in the Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility (CR) Index, which recognises our continuing commitment to CR throughout our business operations.
"Our EBPC's hosted 20,000 students in 2011 and a further 213,000 took place in our national educational initiatives. Only through engagement with young people at school, college or university, can we develop a truly capable and skilled work force able to compete on a global stage."
For further information, please contact Fiona McGarry, Jaguar Land Rover Partnership Centre Manager, 0121 700 3035.
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Notes to Editor:
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), a wholly‑owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, is the largest manufacturer of premium vehicles in theUK. The company, with a global workforce exceeding 21,000 employees, sells vehicles in more than 170 countries. With investment in product creation topping £1.5 billion a year, JLR is at the centre of the UK automotive industry's drive to deliver technical innovation in all areas of vehicle development.
Birmingham Metropolitan College is one of the leading providers of further and higher education in the West Midlands, providing a wide range of education and training programmes in central and north Birmingham. The curriculum specialises in the delivery of high level technology and advanced manufacturing training which includes digital, environmental and low carbon technology along with medical provision in pharmaceutical, dental nursing and podiatry. The College enrol students onto academic and vocational courses from a wide range of social backgrounds and geographical areas. Every year they recruits around 8,500 full‑time 16‑19 learners, over 35,000 full and part time adult learners and serve the training needs of hundreds of businesses throughout the West Midlands region and across theUK.
For more information contact:
Kate Birkenhead, Jaguar Land Rover CSR Communications Officer
E: kbirkenh@jaguarlandrover.com M: 07780 494 352
Shobby Patel, Birmingham Metropolitan College PR Officer
E: Shobhna.patel@bmetc.ac.uk T: 0121 446 4545