Could Kids Unlock the skills shortage in construction?

We are all aware that there is a massive skills shortage in the construction industry and we all know that major manufacturers and trade organisations have worked hard for many years to improve the situation – sadly with little progress.In an attempt to attract new talent to the building business, the focus has been very much on teens and older students, but according to some education experts the construction industry should be setting its sights a little lower – even talking to children as young as five.

KidsUnlock, a global online learning platform for students of between five and 16, claim it is possible to identify potential career paths for young people at a very early age by using detailed research to assess academic and creative abilities.

KidsUnlock is a portal for parents to help their children with online learning, but unlike other platforms the parents and the students both have to take tests and answer a series of personal questions before they are allowed to access the site.

This allows the organisation to assess the abilities and IQ of each child with the added bonus of being able to identify potential career paths and other areas where a child could excel – and that includes the construction industry.

They do this by concentrating on the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding, through thought, experience, and the senses.

Apparently, the stuff happening inside our brain - our feelings, emotions, creativity, processing, problem solving or storing of information - is collectively known as cognition. Think of it as a computer. The brain is the hardware and cognition is the software.

The core objective of the human brain, like a computer, is to receive inputs such as regular data or information to store, process and action. The better the computer, the faster the action.

Similarly, the better the cognitive ability, the smarter the brain, the better it will perform. Most successful people have better cognitive abilities and this helps them to better understand and process information more smartly and to take action where it is most needed.

This is also helps to work out potential career paths for children based on these tests and that includes construction.

This is what they teach students via their online Platform and this ensures that they can quickly understand and deliver information and have higher chances of succeeding in school, competitions and life in general.

The better the cognition, the smarter the performance and early childhood is the best time to build these incredible abilities. It is the science behind their platform and this is what they assess and deliver in four key areas - IQ, Focus, Decision making and Creativity.

Maybe the building business could do something similar by identifying children at the youngest possible age with continued development of their interest in construction. It is a real possibility and we should perhaps consider it.

Visit: www.kidsunlock.org