Engineering is cool

Now we just need to convince the younger generation of that fact

- LEENA GADE

This year has been tough on everyone. The Covid pandemic has caused chaos across the world, but I find myself particularly annoyed by what some of the recent decisions made here in the UK mean for the generation that, in five to 10 years, will be a part of the workforce trying to fix the mistakes my generation and those before have made.

To fix those mistakes, they need a good step into their careers, which for many start with their GCSE, A Level and Highers grades, and the results fiasco over the past couple of weeks in the UK is not the start these young people need.

My parents came to England in the 1970s from India with one goal: to provide their children with an education that would set them up for an independent future. They left behind their family and friends, brought one suitcase, their college degrees and a real sense of sacrifice. At the time they arrived, neither my two sisters nor I were born. Yet my parents knew they wanted their future children to have the privilege of a British education.

That education took place in urban state schools in London, but also for more than two years in India. Doing well at school wasn’t optional for us but, by the same token, all three of us wanted to be the best in class and we really enjoyed learning, both on our own and with classmates. It helped that our parents were always interested in the countless facts we shared with them.