Universities make a decisive contribution to the UK. Knowledge and its application in the real world enriches our lives and is essential to the progressive aspirations of Labour’s new world order.
The wealth of our economy, the health of our people, the vitality of our arts and cultures, compassion and skill in civil society all flow through the gates of higher education. The transition of higher education to an essential driver of economic wealth and social well-being has started to be realised in Labour’s first term of office.
These reforms and changes have not been made at an easy cost. Hard choices were necessary to prioritise expansion. One third of school leavers in England and Wales now progress into higher education; in Scotland and Northern Ireland the proportion is event greater. Lecturers and university staff have provided increases in efficiency and adapted to new working arrangements whilst pay and institutional funding has declined. New platform staff on the London Underground now earn more than the starting salary for the first time lecturer, or new personnel in vital research areas. Student and staff ratios have doubled in the last two decades. And then there is the thorny issue of student financial support.
Lifelong opportunity underpins modern democracy. It is a central tenet of New Labour philosophy, a position shared by other progressive politicians, and one to which I certainly subscribe. In the second term, Labour needs to offer universities freedom to pursue academic goals in return for a guarantee that institutions will play their part as social and economic agents.
In policy terms this means an innovative approach to access and retention of both staff and students. World beating teaching and research cannot be funded on the cheap. We could start with a national convention on higher education, an annual parliament of students, staff, ministers and interested bodies, to forge a long-term vision for education policy.
Similarly, pay and conditions could be devolved to an independent pay review body, bringing to an end the unsightly scene of staff forced into industrial action due to intransigence from university vice-chancellors. These two measures, a single body for evolving policy and independent adjudication on the merit of pay, would raise the status and image of our universities. And it would contribute towards finally dispelling the starched collars and ivory tower image better associated with Brideshead Revisited.
An ambitious target of 50 percent participation by young people by the age of thirty requires the resources and commitment to make it happen. Student hardship remains a central concern to all of us keen to see higher education opened up to non-traditional students and first generation learners.The second stage of the Comprehensive Spending Review has started to address institutional under-funding.There now needs to be a more comprehensive review of student financial support.
As more students enrol in higher education it becomes vital to ensure there is effective co-ordination between schools, colleges and universities.The education select committee has recently called for greater local co-ordination. John Prescott should work alongside the Secretary of State for Education to link education institutions with the proposed regional assemblies. Real power to tackle under-achievement and focus on the ‘participation deserts’ that exist in many towns and cities could be harnessed through regionalisation. Science and research already lend themselves easily to regional wealth creation. This proposal would create a new and dynamic role for universities at the heart of social and economic policy for the regions.
Education has already taken centre stage in the election campaign. There is still much to be done by the Government to ensure that its goals of opportunity and equality is fulfilled. Universities at the heart of the community would be a good starting point for the second term.