The two MPs emphasised the need for business and education to join forces to address the skills gap when they addressed regional business leaders at the college event.
The dinner, organised by CRC and attended by around 50 representatives of key organisations, gave local MPs the chance to talk to employers about working with and for business.
Mrs Frazer, MP for South East Cambridgeshire, said she was frequently told by businesses that they didn’t have the skills they needed.
“The only way we are going to get them is business talking to education about what sort of training we should be giving our students for the future,” she said.
“Giving students the skills they need is great for them, for businesses and for the future of the country. The relationship between education and business is fundamental.”
Cambridge MP Mr Zeichner said it was important to promote vocational qualifications to young people.
“For an economy like Cambridge, we need to tackle the skills issue. The pressure to propel young people to university is so strong, but the vocational route is equally valid and advantageous,” he said.
Among the organisations invited to the dinner, held in the college’s Park restaurant, were Napp Pharmaceuticals, the Medical Research Council, Mills and Reeve, city and county councils, the Chamber of Commerce, Cambridge Network, Johnson Matthey, Ridgeon and the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership.
Image: CRC Principal Anne Constantine with MPs Daniel Zeichner and Lucy Frazer
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MEDIA ENQUIRIES
For more information, please contact Lynn O’Shea, Cambridge Regional College Press Officer, on 01223 418773 or email loshea@camre.ac.uk
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