School of thought
What do music, maths, sciences and modern languages have in common? Answer: they are the departments most likely to be axed by UK universities for economic reasons.
Last month the ABPI gave evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee inquiry into strategic science provision in English universities that the education system is failing to provide industry with sufficient high calibre scientists - in particular chemists and in vivo pharmacologists - to meet its needs. It warned that a national strategy for key academic subjects must replace the current situation where local university finance, and funding councils that do not acknowledge industry's requirements, determine the future of education.
It is a trend that will be hard to reverse. The diminishing number of science graduates means that there are fewer science teachers, leading to a further decline in the number of pupils going on to study science at university. It is particularly ironic that a country that has traditionally been one of the strongest bases in the world for pharmaceutical r&d is rapidly becoming dependent on scientists who have trained abroad, says the ABPI.
There are a few positive signs - the establishment of a new School of Pharmacy at Reading University and the launch of ChemiCol, a company dedicated to offering training solutions for the chemical industry in northwest England - but these are unlikely to be enough to halt or even slow the downward spiral.
Perhaps it is time for the UK pharmaceutical and chemical sectors to take a leaf out of the US book and take control of their own fate. The Chemical Educational Foundation (CEF) was founded by the National Association of Chemical Distributors and is dedicated to fostering a greater understanding of the science of chemistry, the benefits of chemicals and the importance of chemical safety awareness.
The CEF has compiled an educational programme for 8-13 year-olds called You Be The Chemist. The YBTC kit features 30 fun and easy to use lesson plans that support the US science curriculum and cover topics such as scientific enquiry, the structure of matter, safety and recycling.
We have several high-profile organisations in the UK - the ABPI, the CIA and the BCDTA, to name but three - who would be well placed to get such a scheme off the ground here.
'A pool of quality science talent should be created, not just to enter industry, but also to sustain academia and to provide the qualified teachers who can encourage pupils to pursue science in higher education,' said the ABPI. Perhaps this would be as good a place as any to start.