PUPILS at four schools in the Tees Valley are set to spend one day a week involved in local industry to fire their interest in careers such as manufacturing and engineering.

More than 300 Redcar schoolchildren and their parents attended an information day last week about the Virtual University Technical College (VUTC) concept, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Some of the largest firms in the Tees Valley are involved in the project which aims to help local children develop a route to a career in one of the major local industries.

The plan is that they will spend one day a week either with one of the major employees or carrying out a project connected to it.

Aimed at pupils embarking on their GCSEs the two-year programme of vocational study will run alongside their traditional school work and involves employers including Huntsman, Sembcorp, Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), CPI, Lotte Chemical and PD Ports.

The practical work experience with a major employer will result in a BTEC Extended Certificate Level 2 which is equivalent to three GCSEs.

The programme, funded by the Learning & Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), has been created by The Redcar & Marske Specialist Schools Trust, (RMSST) which includes schools, colleges, Teesside University and local employers.

Gary Groom, Principal of Redcar & Cleveland College, who led the project on behalf of the RMSST, said: "We knew the Virtual University Technical College was a great opportunity for schoolchildren in the area but to get 300 people signing up to come and hear more about it is just incredible.

"We spoke to employers about what they look for in terms of the skills and abilities of young people and having successful recruitment.

"In the next ten years in our region we will see inward investment and growth in engineering and technical industries.

"There will be a growing need from businesses for people to fill vacancies and there is not necessarily a growing assumption in young people to look at these jobs.

"There is a mismatch between what young people and perhaps their parents know about the jobs on offer and what they know and understand about the learning that needs to be undertaken to take up these kinds of jobs.

"We have designed a programme that contains the sort of learning employers believe would be useful .

"This will also allow the employers to showcase their work, show there are careers in these sectors and thereby excite young people to think about a job going into the future."

Phil Dryden, Chief Executive of SSI UK, said: "We know how important it is to us and other employers across the Tees Valley to have skilled and motivated young people as they will be our workforce of the future."

Tony Hobbs, Chairman of the Redcar & Marske Specialist Schools Trust and Headteacher at Bydales School, said it was: "A strong project that has obviously caught the interest of local pupils and their parents."