Kids in the U.K. get field trips to… the Apple Store?

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Year of Engineering
It's for a good reason, though!
Image: Year of Engineering

Apple is offering students in the U.K. the chance to learn more about coding, engineering and design — courtesy of Field Trip events as part of the UK’s government’s “Year of Engineering.”

The events offer around 1,700 students, aged 5 to 18, the chance to go “behind the scenes” at Apple Stores around the country. Apple is running around 100 of these Field Trip events, during which students will shown how to create various digital projects. These relate to topics from coding to the solar system.

Apple is particularly focused on helping students from schools which have not previously benefitted from STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) outreach programs.

“The Year of Engineering is all about showing young people that engineering careers are open to them, regardless of their gender, ethnicity and background,” the HM Government Envoy for the Year of Engineering Stephen Metcalfe said in a statement. “Engineers design the technology and infrastructure that each of use every day, and it’s fantastic to see Apple bring this to life for schoolchildren in all corners of the UK.”

Getting more kids into engineering

Apple isn’t the only business to have signed up to the Year of Engineering program, which the UK’s government announced back in April 2018. In total, the government has signed up more than 1,400 partners, including Siemens and the Science Museum.

By the end of this year, the scheme will reportedly have delivered one million of the “experiences” such as the one Apple is offering.

On a cynical level, it’s easy to write this off as a PR exercise for Apple that allows it to showcase its products to large numbers of kids, under the guise of a school field trip. However, if this can genuinely help address some of the skills shortages in areas like engineering — while giving a closer connection with a brand kids are passionate about — this could be a really positive move.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Gov.uk

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