BUSINESS and industry leaders have often complained that schools are turning out students who are ill-equipped to cope with the world of work. Teachers were accused of having no understanding of the skills needed by young people to make the transition from education to employment.

The simple answer was for both sides to talk to each other. Thankfully, that was what happened in the mid 1990s and the East Lancashire Education Business Partnership was launched in 1995.

It started with the aim of helping young people understand the world of business and industry and to motivate them to make the most of employment opportunities open to them.

To achieve these objectives, the EBP works with a range of partners from both the public and private sectors. To date, 42,000 pupils and 18,000 employers have been involved in education-business links which include work experience, teacher placements, quality assurance and literacy and numeracy projects.

Chief executive Neil Mawdsley said the EBP offered a range of benefits for employers. It helped provide a better-motivated, well-informed and better-qualified future workforce. As well as giving companies the chance to play an active part in day-to-day school activities, it also offered opportunities to invest and raise their profile in the community.

"Today's students are the workforce of the future," said Mr Mawdsley. "So therefore it is vital that they know what skills are required by organisations they could potentially be working for in the future.

"We are very grateful to those companies who currently work with us and would encourage others to become involved."

Under Neil Mawdsley, the company has diversified and now provides conference facilities at its headquarters at the Junction 7 Business Park at Clayton-le-Moors. It also offers a range of training programmes under the Learn Direct initiative at its premises.

Profits from its commercial operations are ploughed back into its core activities which enable the EBP to deliver an enlarged event programme.

Forthcoming events include a Languages at Work day on September 26, a Chemistry at Work day on October 3 and Compact Students Conferences in October and November.

The Languages at Work event takes place on the European Day of Languages and is designed to show students how businesses use languages on a daily basis.

Chemistry at Work is the first event of its kind in the North of England and is aimed at key stage two pupils. Through a series of demonstrations, they will have the opportunity to see how chemistry is used in industry. John Getty from PDS Engineering in Nelson will open the event and students will have the chance to pilot a Space Shuttle simulator using NASA software.

Mr Mawdsley said the Compact scheme helped to identify those students who were most likely to be motivated, target-driven and ready to accept responsibility.Its key objectives were to expand the involvement of employers in education, increase students' achievements and encourage more young people to continue in further education and training after the age of 16.

Each October and November, a series of student conferences take place across East Lancashire at venues such as Ewood Park and Turf Moor. Eight students from each school are invited to attend and they are responsible for presenting what they have learned to their classmates.

Said Mr Mawdsley: "By taking part in Compact, students will further develop qualities like adaptability, flexibility and acceptance of change which will be crucial in the workplace of tomorrow."

"It will also build their confidence and encourage them to take responsibility."

Ideas for developing the future workforce of East Lancashire are continually being devised such as the 10 courses currently offered to students that include prefect training and school council responsibilities.

Any company wanting to discover more about working with the Education Business Partnership should contact Sue Guest, Tel: 01254 389898.