Schoolchildren are being sent on work experience – without even leaving their desks.
Pupils are using virtual reality headsets to find out what life is like in different workplaces, from a bed manufacturer to a construction firm.
But the project, in a borough council’s secondary schools, has been blasted as “educational cocaine that feeds young people’s addiction to the digital world”.
And critics say it’s no replacement for getting your hands dirty in the real world workplace.
Teenagers in schools under Pendle Council in Lancashire are using the interactive headsets to see what life is like inside a local Silentnight bed factory.
The gizmo also lets them see how parts are made at bicycle firm Hope in Barnoldswick.
And they don’t even need to put a hard hat on to tour machines at Barnfield builders in Nelson.
Pupils are also shown around restaurant kitchens, with chefs demonstrating how to cook. Another work experience “visit” features a tour of a creative design workshop.
Pendle Council leader Mohammed Iqbal hailed the scheme as “fantastic”. He added: “We have the highest concentration of employment in advanced manufacturing in the UK.
"We want our younger generations who go to university to come back to Pendle to work.”
The council claimed the project is not a replacement for traditional work experience. Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “Children do need to experience the world of work – but this is best done in the real world, rather than via a computerised virtual world.
“So-called virtual reality technology is educational cocaine that feeds young people’s addiction to the digital world in which many of them spend their lives.
“We rightly worry about climate change, but we should be equally concerned about what an eminent brain scientist, Baroness Greenfield, has described as ‘mind change’.
“Pupils desperately need to get away from the virtual workplace and into the real world workplace.”
Earlier this year we revealed posties have been using headsets to learn how to avoid being attacked by dogs.
The gadgets provide a 360-degree street-view scene and advice on how to deal with aggressive pets.
