00:00Research also found that less than half of students aged 13 to 19 feel that their current
00:05curriculum adequately prepares them for technological futures, while almost a quarter believe that
00:10DT doesn't actually give them the skills necessary to make meaningful societal changes.
00:17There are 1.6 million designers and nearly 2 million people working in the design industry
00:21here in the UK, with an additional 2.5 million people that use design skills in their roles
00:26according to a new report. But what do you think? Is design and technology an important
00:30subject to take at GCSE? And why do you think the North East has the lowest amount of pupils
00:34choosing to study it?
00:35It's just not fashionable. I think the youngsters of today just want easy money.
00:39When you look sort of at the last government and their focus towards subjects that what
00:45they deem is useful, I don't really think it's that much of a surprise. I think possibly
00:49schools encourage kids to go for more STEM subjects. And obviously we do have that pressure
00:56from members of parliament as well. So I do think there needs to be more of a push for
01:01education to be sort of a creative outlet rather than just, you know, a next step.
01:06I mean, I did design technology. I really enjoyed it. But I think maybe it's like targeted
01:11as or kind of like looked at as a less academic or like maybe less like kind of important
01:17GCSE. I think sometimes like when you're in school, you're pushed to do very like, I don't
01:22like computer science or something that's a little bit more like academic. But I wouldn't,
01:29I don't know why people would necessarily choose it less kind of thing.
01:33Everything like that, you've got to go out of the North East to get it. It needs investment
01:38in the North East, but it's never happened. I don't think it ever will happen. We're just
01:41a poor relation to the North, aren't we? I mean, the government thinks everything north
01:44of Watford Gap, we're still fighting people in kilts.
