With the media focus on undergraduate fees we are in danger of forgetting the four in 10 students who study part time, making yesterday’sProgress-Open University fringe – Open to all: is part time learning the best way to deliver Labour’s ambition to widen participation? – chaired by Ann Mroz a timely and important discussion.
From the structural right through to the cultural this event examined the problems in expanding part-time provision due to the funding models and ever increasing pressures on university budgets. But funding was not the only theme: discussions also centred on the stereotypes that surround the image of students, the tendency to devalue vocational qualifications and subsequently part-time provision.
Of course no fringe on higher education can escape the context of fees. Lurking in the background to all of these topics was the question as to whether any of this was likely to shift with the trebling of the student contribution.
Participants acknowledged the successes and mistakes of the past. That strategies too often focused on ‘getting young, bright people into uni’ rather than ensuring no one was left behind. Where the Open University has 49 per cent of students with one A level or less, questions were raised about whether we had focused enough on these students who’ve experienced those challenges that could so easily shut them out of education.
But is part-time education the answer to widening participation? Gareth Thomas, the shadow higher education minister, believes it is part of the answer but believes there will still be a demand and desire for full-time education, and that is why the government should act now to reduce the fees from £9,000 to £6,000 to make that education accessible to all that have the ability to attend.
This wouldn’t be a Progress fringe without some solutions: participants explored the alternative funding models that could shift the power into the hands of students who could pursue a more flexible approach to their learning. A model does exist in Scotland, Wales and Australia – a skills credit-based framework that allows students to dip in and out of learning, to move around, and which can encourage more part time study.
But for all the solutions there are still many questions, including questions the government are still yet to answer about the regulation of private providers.
So as we move into a ever-increasingly turbulent time for education, part-time provision will gain greater attention and focus. Let’s hope with continued discussions like yesterday’s Labour can take a lead in ensuring that focus looks at how to widen participation to those that can most benefit from the flexibility provided from part-time study.
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Susan Nash is chair of Young Labour
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