It’s time to learn that degrees are not for everyone
WHEN JOHN Ruskin said, in 1853, that “education is the leading of human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them” he was making a compelling case for the efficacy of lifelong learning.
For years I have challenged the way our education system discriminates against those with practical inclinations and interests; tastes and talents. Over recent decades the structure of higher education, reflecting such academic prejudices, allowed the rapid expansion of universities – feeding the growth of questionable degrees which lack intellectual and economic value.
Arts and social sciences are particularly vulnerable to dilution of standards and corruption of content. And some courses are worse still – so warped that young people leave university fervently convinced that all white people are racists and that every wrong is the result of western imperialism.
They are so poorly educated that, unsurprisingly, they cannot employ their degree to secure a meaningful job.
Due to the distorting effect of the Blair government’s dogma about the numbers that should go to university, for too long, too many people have been pushed towards forking out for a degree, when very often it isn’t the right option for them. In fact, a tapestry of choices is available to young people as they set out to make their mark in the world.
What is needed, for aptitudes and opportunities to be better matched, is the right guidance.
Thanks to this Blairite mindset that only university is best, many students have borrowed huge sums of money for degrees that ultimately lead them nowhere, seeing their talents wasted and their potential go unachieved.
It is critical to our collective common good, and to the personal good of the young people making these choices, that we get the fit between their needs and the education on offer right.
That’s why I welcome the recent measures announced by government.we
This will help to upskill not just the next generation but the existing workforce and the generations to come
must make sure learning goes hand in with the wider strategic aims of public policy, to “level up” the economy, improve technical skills and “build back better”.
The Government is providing a much needed boost to training through the roll-out of new technical “T-levels”.
Yet these will only be a success if they are linked to higher learning which confers the competencies that our nation needs to succeed.
If judged solely by immediate outcomes, employers may be uncertain about the value of skills T-levels impart. Ministers must be mindful of this potential pitfall.
A further challenge for T-levels is, though they rightly include a lengthy period of work experience, they may be difficult in rural areas of the kind I represent – entrenching pockets of disadvantage.
Creative industries have been identified as a key sector to build sustainable long-term growth. Yet, creative university courses are in danger of being deprioritised simply because it often takes longer for graduates to establish themselves in related industries.
Data used by the Government must reflect a broader view of outcomes. If not, then there is a real danger of courses with good outcomes being defunded.
Despite these caveats, the package of measures is, as a whole, welcome. It is a commitment to give all learners the chance to retrain, reskill and upskill throughout their lifetime through the new Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) that has the potential to make the most difference to the most lives.
I am proud that – as the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning – I was in a position to change the national conversation about the salience of skills.
IREMAIN passionate about improving opportunities for lifelong learning, so it is good news that the Government is promising a transformation of the further education system so that Britons can be equipped with the skills they need to enjoy a fulfilling, well-paid career.
The LLE is a loan entitlement equivalent to four years of post-18 education, which can be used flexibly throughout a learner’s life – both for full years of study or to complete individual modules.
This is an exciting step to help deliver on the promise of Brexit Britain to upskill not just the next generation, but the existing workforce and the generations to come.
Perhaps now, more than ever, we can consign to the past the foolish notion that accomplishment is entirely dependent on academic prowess, by knowing again that, in the words of William Morris, “not on one strand are all life’s jewels strung”.