Rishi Sunak announced further plans on Monday to protect students from university courses with high drop-out rates and poor job prospects. Education Minister Robert Halfon said imposing restrictions would encourage universities to improve course quality.
Having contemplated this for a week, my key question is ‘why target our world-leading and successful UK University sector when we should focus on addressing issues in disadvantaged areas and workplace discrimination?’ The UK’s higher education has achieved international acclamation for their academic excellence, cutting-edge research, and ability to attract students from across the globe. They contribute significantly to the nation’s economy, foster innovation, and enrich the country’s intellectual landscape. Attacking this already prosperous sector risks reducing its achievements and may hinder its continued growth and attraction!
The current approach to measuring the ‘success’ of a degree seems overly limited. It relies heavily on an individual’s earnings, disregarding the broader positive impact that a university education can have on personal growth and development. Certain subjects that maybe affected such as social work, play a crucial role in addressing our societal challenges and the Creative Arts may be a lower paying sector but has considerable contribution to our GDP.
The policies could also unfairly impact disadvantaged areas and students, burdened by financial pressures and workplace discrimination. Universities have been diligently expanding their diverse course offerings and promoting equality, and these measures risk setting the sector back by a decade.
Whilst I recognise the government’s financial implications in subsidising courses, paving a way to reevaluate how we fund education could be the answer. By introducing variable charges for courses and exploring accelerated degree options, universities can address the growing concern of student debt without sacrificing the diversity of available courses which enriches our society and drives international interest. This approach ensures that students have more financial flexibility while still being able to pursue their desired educational paths.
Always interested to hear other opinions, so please feel free to reach out to me and discuss this further via email kim.mclellan@hunterlodge.co.uk
