AN innovative initiative has been highlighting the importance for the workforce and the economy of up-skilling in maths.
Invest Northern Ireland recently joined with Queen’s University Belfast to host the Focus On Maths: From School To Work event for representatives from business and academia along with principals and maths teachers from around Northern Ireland.
The aim was both to raise the profile and take up of maths in schools and promote the fact that having a maths qualification can offer students a broad range of career opportunities.
Jeremy Fitch, Invest NI’s executive director of business and sector development, said: “If Northern Ireland businesses are to succeed in the global marketplace we need a graduate workforce that has the right skills, and increasingly maths is seen as a core competence.”
Professor Ellen Douglas-Cowie, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Queen’s University, said: “We, at Queen’s, are focused on how we can equip our students to enter the workplace with the skills needed by industry in Northern Ireland and to further strengthen the strong links we already have with the business community. This event is an opportunity to work with schools and businesses to map out a way to increase the number of students with Maths skills.”
Invest Northern Ireland works with individuals, companies and organisations in manufacturing and tradable services which show the ambition and commitment to grow by being more innovative, more entrepreneurial and more internationally focused.
Invest NI’s resources are focused on assisting clients to improve competitiveness, increase innovation, promote a stronger international focus and create more positive attitudes to enterprise.
Its full range of support and services are delivered through local offices in Belfast, Coleraine, Ballymena, Craigavon, Londonderry, Newry, Enniskillen and Omagh, and an international office network.