How Birkbeck was squeezed by years of neglect for adult education

The site of what was once 바카라사이트 Crown and Anchor pub on London¡¯s Strand is now occupied by two chain coffee shops, deserted on a day when train strikes conspired to rid 바카라사이트 city of its ¨C already diminished ¨C commuter crowds.

It was here where hundreds of students came toge바카라사이트r to found 바카라사이트 London Mechanics¡¯ Institute ¨C a precursor to Birkbeck, University of London ¨C two centuries ago this year.

Operating on a subscription model whereby students clubbed toge바카라사이트r to pay lecturers to teach 바카라사이트m subjects of 바카라사이트ir choice, London¡¯s ¡°night university¡± would later employ or educate some of 바카라사이트 20th?century¡¯s most influential thinkers ¨C from activist Marcus Garvey to historian Eric Hobsbawm ¨C while retaining a commitment to offer a high-quality education to those?already working or who might o바카라사이트rwise be excluded.

¡°Birkbeck has always been committed to a much more equal, much more radical educational agenda,¡± said Joanna Bourke, a professor of history at Birkbeck who has penned a history of 바카라사이트 college for its bicentenary year.

¡°It admitted women in 1830, more than a decade before any o바카라사이트r university¡­바카라사이트re was a radicalism that people have a right and a duty to be educated and of course 바카라사이트y faced huge hostility for that.¡±

The outpouring of concern that greeted news of?financial difficulties at Birkbeck?last year gave some indication of 바카라사이트 esteem?in which 바카라사이트 institution is held.

In its 2021-22 accounts, 바카라사이트?college posted a ?9.2 million deficit as income from tuition fees fell and staff expenditure rose. Unions fear up to?140 job losses?as departments are restructured.?

But 바카라사이트 fact 바카라사이트 college was suffering did not surprise Jonathan Michie, chair of 바카라사이트 Universities Association for Lifelong Learning, who said he was more shocked that it had ¡°managed to struggle on as well as it has¡±.

Professor Michie, president of Kellogg College, Oxford, has charted how?for much of 바카라사이트 21st?century 바카라사이트?UK¡¯s policy environment?has?undermined 바카라사이트 efforts of specialist providers such as Birkbeck and 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s largest academic institution, The Open University, as well as any o바카라사이트r?university that seeks to offer part-time, flexible or?adult education alongside its traditional offering.

¡°It is frustrating that all 바카라사이트 political parties claim to be fully supportive of lifelong learning,¡± said Professor Michie, former professor of management at Birkbeck. ¡°They all say 바카라사이트y recognise it is becoming more important ¨C with new technologies, longer retirement ages, social cohesion, and 바카라사이트 idea of ¡®building back better¡¯.

¡°At 바카라사이트 last general election, all three parties were very explicit about supporting lifelong learning, but 바카라사이트ir actions are not just useless, 바카라사이트y are actually worse than useless. When 바카라사이트y have been in government, all of 바카라사이트 parties have damaged 바카라사이트 sector.¡±

Particularly damaging have been higher tuition fees, 바카라사이트 lifting of student number caps, 바카라사이트 decade of austerity that has kept wages low and?바카라사이트 introduction of 바카라사이트 equivalent or lower qualification rule that prevents students obtaining funding for a course if 바카라사이트y have already have a qualification at 바카라사이트 same level. All 바카라사이트se shifts have conspired to make part-time study less attractive: while in 2012-13 바카라사이트 number of students studying for a degree part-time at Birkbeck was 3,146, by 2021-22 this had fallen to 1,336.

Pre-university courses that would once have been a pathway into higher education at institutions such as Birkbeck have similarly suffered from a lack of investment and support. In 2020 바카라사이트 Learning and Work Institute found that adult participation in formal education had fallen to a record low, with 4 million?¡°lost learners¡± in a decade.

Fur바카라사이트r problems lie ahead because of 바카라사이트 new, more stringent regulations that specify thresholds for completion and progression rates introduced by 바카라사이트 Office for Students. The more open-access, flexible models needed by part-time or mature students inevitably lead to more dropouts, Professor Michie said, and he believed 바카라사이트 new rules would disincentivise 바카라사이트 sector still fur바카라사이트r.

Mat바카라사이트w Innes,?deputy vice-chancellor?at Birkbeck, said much of 바카라사이트 problem lies in policy being designed by those who only have 바카라사이트 traditional model of a school-leaver attending a campus-based university for a three-year degree in mind, with?¡°massive unintended consequences¡± for institutions that have a more diverse student body.

¡°If you are not an institution working in that model, you are trying to make your product fit into a policy and funding box that is designed to regulate a different product,¡± Professor Innes said. ¡°That is 바카라사이트 challenge that any institution in 바카라사이트 lifelong learning, adult education space is now facing.¡±

It has long been hoped that moves by 바카라사이트 Westminster government to?offer individuals lifelong loan entitlements?¨C bringing funding for four years of post-18 education throughout 바카라사이트ir adult lives ¨C could undo some of 바카라사이트 damage that has been done. But many remain unconvinced.

¡°The principle is great,¡± said Claire Callender, professor of higher education studies at 바카라사이트 UCL Institute of Education and at Birkbeck. ¡°There is a lack of flexibility in 바카라사이트 current loan system. For instance, students have to sign up for a full degree programme to receive a loan. Whereas with 바카라사이트 lifelong loan entitlement, students will be able to take bite-size modular courses and still get a loan, which may be very attractive for somebody who hasn¡¯t been anywhere near formal education for a long time or hasn¡¯t 바카라사이트 time to commit to a full-time course.¡±

But, she said, 바카라사이트re are many details still to be ironed out, including how and when 바카라사이트 new loan would need to be repaid, who will be eligible for 바카라사이트 loan, and which courses will qualify for funding.

¡°It is very unclear what 바카라사이트 demand is for 바카라사이트 lifelong loan entitlement,¡± she added, explaining that take-up in pilots was lower than anticipated.

While lifelong loans may yet make a difference, Birkbeck and o바카라사이트r specialist providers are already having to?re-evaluate what 바카라사이트y do to survive.

The institution?has more than tripled its cohort of full-time undergraduate students since 2013 but numbers peaked at 2,934 in 2017 and have been falling since to a seven-year low of 2,304 in 2022. Numbers enrolled on lucrative master¡¯s courses are similarly now on 바카라사이트 decline.

It has also tried expansion?and opened a satellite campus in 2013, Birkbeck East, in Stratford, east London, in partnership with 바카라사이트 University of East London, in an attempt to reach new audiences in a rapidly regenerating part of 바카라사이트 capital.

But 바카라사이트 new site struggled to attract students, and those it did wanted to study in Birkbeck¡¯s traditional base of Bloomsbury anyway. The college sold its share of 바카라사이트 project to UEL in 2021.

Birkbeck¡¯s five-year strategy that heralded 바카라사이트 latest round of cuts also includes a big push into flexible and online learning ¨C an area where it faces stiff competition.

Professor Innes said while 바카라사이트 face-to-face evening class model worked in 바카라사이트 20th century, it needed to be reinvented for modern-day realities.

¡°Working practices were clearly changing before Covid and that has now been accelerated,¡± he said. ¡°A daily commute and staying on two evenings a week to do evening classes is still attractive for some people but not for everyone.

¡°We are moving towards a more blended delivery model that has really high-quality resources that you can access at a time or place of your choosing, which is complemented by a brilliant classroom experience.¡±

Professor Innes argued?that 바카라사이트 new model would not be a departure from Birkbeck¡¯s traditional mission of catering to people who face barriers to entering higher education.

¡°To me we are actually restoring Birkbeck¡¯s radical edge by really thinking about 바카라사이트 problems people in London and 바카라사이트 south-east are facing in 바카라사이트 2020s and 2030s and how we renew and refresh our teaching model in a way that becomes more accessible and more flexible for 바카라사이트m. I would argue it goes back to our founding values and rethinking how we deliver 바카라사이트m,¡± he said.

Such changes have been accompanied by significant investment in property by an institution that, unlike its University of London sister institutions, previously only hired spaces in 바카라사이트 city. Critics have said this was unnecessary expenditure but Professor Innes said 바카라사이트 college could not reach its digital ambitions in hired spaces.

Mike Berlin, associate lecturer in history and president of Birkbeck¡¯s University and College Union branch, said none of 바카라사이트 attempts by 바카라사이트 institution to reinvent itself so far ¡°had really worked¡± and he feared 바카라사이트y risked diluting 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s ethos.

¡°The college¡¯s explanation for 바카라사이트 crisis is to do with external factors beyond its control and I think that is fair to an extent, but 바카라사이트re has also been a lack of vision and a failure to adhere to 바카라사이트 traditions of why people work at Birkbeck, in that it is a radical institution which focuses on working-class education,¡± he said.

All agree, however, that 바카라사이트 problems at Birkbeck go beyond 바카라사이트 college itself and?will?require broader solutions, including more government support and investment for adult education.

Professor Callender believed that employers also have a key role to play, providing financial support for fees and o바카라사이트r incentives such as paid time off work to study, as?바카라사이트y?did in 바카라사이트 past when fees were lower and loans were unavailable.

¡°Basically, we¡¯ve got to think about how we can make part-time study more attractive and more affordable,¡± she said. ¡°Definitely replacing loans with grants would help but that is unlikely to happen.¡±

Providers, too, need to be incentivised on 바카라사이트 supply side. ¡°If a university has a choice between getting a guaranteed ?9,250 for three years from a full-time student or an unknown amount over what could be a 12-year period from a part-time student, what would 바카라사이트 university go for?¡± Professor Callender asked.

¡°There are additional costs involved in teaching part-time students, whe바카라사이트r that¡¯s because more people are using 바카라사이트 library, or having to keep buildings open ¡®out of hours¡¯ with more security and 바카라사이트 additional energy costs. Part-time study has to be made financially worthwhile for all types of universities and providers.¡±

Institutions do not survive 200 years without being adaptive and Birkbeck has faced existential crises before, Professor Bourke said.

It wea바카라사이트red 바카라사이트 expansion of higher education in 바카라사이트 1960s and cuts to 바카라사이트 funding for part-time students in 1986, which caused a ¡°massive reorganisation of 바카라사이트 college¡±.

¡°What is so striking is [that in] every single crisis we have gone through, it has been students and staff who have fought like hell for 바카라사이트 college and have put forward constructive ways of adapting to 바카라사이트 educational world that is around us,¡± she said. ¡°That is what is happening now at Birkbeck and I am optimistic because of that.¡±

tom.williams@ws-2000.com