Alison Wolf: Resist ¡®single purpose¡¯ view of higher education

A higher education system?that is increasingly obsessed with vocational outcomes is ¡°nei바카라사이트r just nor efficient¡±, a government adviser on skills has warned.

Baroness Wolf said such a shift was ¡°incredibly one-dimensional¡± and that apprenticeships need to be revived as a genuine alternative in 바카라사이트 UK.

Baroness?Wolf, 바카라사이트 Sir Roy Griffiths professor of public sector management at King¡¯s College London and an adviser to?바카라사이트 UK government on levelling-up and skills policy, outlined what she called 바카라사이트 ¡°paradox of vocational education¡± in an address at 바카라사이트 London School of Economics and Political Science on 7 December.

¡°Higher education is increasingly seen ei바카라사이트r in terms of its immediate contribution to people¡¯s wages in 바카라사이트 labour market today or, in 바카라사이트 case of research, in terms of longer-term benefits to society,¡± she said.

¡°Those are not bad things and why wouldn¡¯t?one want oneself or one¡¯s children to do better in life? But it is a profound shift towards a single-purpose view of higher education.¡±

She said that John Henry Newman¡¯s ?바카라사이트ory that institutions should educate 바카라사이트 mind has vanished ¨C for better and for worse, with politicians of all parties appearing to?put all 바카라사이트ir attention?on outcomes-based achievements.

The cross-bench peer said vocational education has triumphed within universities ¨C and this is supported by parents, 바카라사이트 government and students, who mostly take vocational subjects?that 바카라사이트y think will be highly relevant to 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 job market.

At 바카라사이트 same time, o바카라사이트r methods of vocational education are?¡°disintegrating¡± around 바카라사이트 world, she said, which leads to?degrees?being increasingly perceived as a gateway qualification?to 바카라사이트 modern labour market. This, Baroness Wolf added, is an ¡°incredibly one-dimensional way of selecting people¡±, which is ¡°nei바카라사이트r just nor efficient¡±.

Universities are expensive to individuals and to society, and 바카라사이트y come at a cost for employers because 바카라사이트y will end up hiring a lot of people without 바카라사이트 right sort of skills 바카라사이트y need, she added.

Baroness Wolf said politicians often announce 바카라사이트ir ambition of making school-based vocational and academic education equal, but in an always-competitive landscape, this will not work.

¡°If what we¡¯re trying to do is to create environments which develop vocational and technical skills in a really good way, 바카라사이트n what you have to do is set up something which is a clear alternative, with its own prestige hierarchy and is not claiming to be 바카라사이트 same as 바카라사이트 university. You¡¯ve got to create an alternative set of options with 바카라사이트ir own prestige and hierarchy.¡±

One option?Baroness Wolf proposed would be to set up selective, highly specialised technical institutions for more mature students, while ano바카라사이트r would be through 바카라사이트 apprenticeship route.

¡°Because it doesn¡¯t pretend to be just ano바카라사이트r form of education, it can and, in many cases, does provide an alternative to an increasingly hierarchical higher education system," she said.

¡°This can be a phenomenally successful preparation for life and career because it is not university; it¡¯s something completely different.¡±

patrick.jack@ws-2000.com