Exploring Electronics is a transition-year module developed by the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) in association with a number of secondary schools in Co Cork, aimed at persuading more young people to take up electronic engineering as a career opportunity.
Failure to do so will result in a serious skills shortage in one of the key sectors of the Irish economic resurgence, according to the head of the CIT's department of electronic engineering, Mr Paul Sliney.
Traditionally, one of the problems in the sector is that girls have veered away from the subject, as shown by an average take-up of only 10 per cent.
Since the CIT's schools initiative, the number of female students has risen to between 25 and 30 per cent, says Mr Sliney, and while this is a welcome trend, more young people of both sexes will have to be persuaded to enter electronic engineering.
During the past academic year the pilot project was launched in 12 Co Cork schools, and its success to date has encouraged the CIT to suggest to the Department of Education that it should now be introduced in every secondary school in the State.
The electronics sector is notoriously cyclical, Mr Sliney adds, but even as the slowdown in the world economy continues to take hold, there are already signs that it is beginning to bounce back.
This is an exciting career path for students, and qualification holds out the prospect of being employable anywhere in the world. The results of the pilot scheme will be assessed at the end of the school year, after which the CIT will be in a better position to say whether or not its message is getting across.