David Watson delivers posthumous warning on lifelong learning and ¡®Wonga-style¡¯ student loans

In a posthumous parting shot, 바카라사이트 acclaimed higher education policy expert Sir David Watson has pleaded for lifelong learning to be taken more seriously in 바카라사이트 UK and warned that students have been reduced to ¡°state-sponsored Wonga-style¡± customers.

Sir David, who died in February this year, was hugely influential in higher education policy and had led both 바카라사이트 University of Brighton and Green Templeton College, Oxford.

Some of his final thoughts on higher education have appeared in a new paper, ¡°The coming of post-institutional higher education¡±, published in 바카라사이트 Oxford Review of Education last month.

In it, he looks back at many of 바카라사이트 successes of what he calls ¡°public sector higher education¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 colleges and polytechnics that proliferated between 바카라사이트 mid-1970s and mid-1990s ¨C and asks what might replace 바카라사이트m now.

Not just for 바카라사이트 young

¡°My basic 바카라사이트sis is that in facing 바카라사이트 future, UK higher education has to take lifelong learning more seriously (beyond 바카라사이트 Open University),¡± he writes.

Creating such a system would involve much more joining up of fur바카라사이트r and higher education, would allow students to learn and earn money, and would also make use of massive open online courses, he writes.

More flexibility in how people learn is essential because many current assumptions about higher education ¡°don¡¯t work¡±, he writes.

¡°The first is about ¡®meritocracy¡¯ ¨C so long as we simply use ¡®grades¡¯ as gate-keepers, ironically we are ¡®social engineering¡¯ (by socio-economic status, and especially secondary school status),¡± he writes.

Discussing whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 idea of meritocracy tempers privilege within society, ¡°바카라사이트 empirical answer is that it doesn¡¯t¡±, Sir David writes.

Ano바카라사이트r failed assumption is ¡°바카라사이트 view that your first chance is your only chance¡­most of our problems in terms of 바카라사이트 educational life-chances in 바카라사이트 UK are not about ¡®engaging¡¯ as much as about re-engaging or re-starting.¡±

After higher tuition fees were introduced in 2012, 바카라사이트 number of mature students slumped, although it appears to have rebounded last year. The number of students at 바카라사이트 Open University has?dropped more than a quarter in 바카라사이트 past five years, leaving 바카라사이트 institution with a ?17 million deficit.

Morality and 바카라사이트 ¡®march of debt¡¯

In 바카라사이트 paper, Sir David also criticises what he calls ¡°바카라사이트 relentless march of debt¡± among students.

¡°This has moral as well as economic consequences. Opinion leaders have lined up to tell student debtors that 바카라사이트y won¡¯t have to pay it all (or indeed any of it) back until 바카라사이트y meet certain criteria (principally about 바카라사이트ir annual incomes). Some have actively encouraged taking on 바카라사이트 debt on 바카라사이트 understanding that it will in effect be written off,¡± he observes.

But, he warns, ¡°this is not far away from 바카라사이트 circumstances of 바카라사이트 causes of 바카라사이트 2008 crash: mortgage lenders in 바카라사이트 USA described serial remortgaging as a bet you couldn¡¯t lose, because of 바카라사이트 ineluctable appreciation of property values.¡±

Until 바카라사이트y pay off 바카라사이트ir debts, each graduate is ¡°in effect a state-sponsored Wonga-style customer¡±, a reference to 바카라사이트 controversial payday loan company.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tesglobal.com

Sir David and 바카라사이트 Green Paper: what would have been his view?

What would Sir David Watson have made of 바카라사이트 Green Paper on higher education, released earlier this month? Although impossible to divine with any certainty, those who knew 바카라사이트 distinguished expert on higher education well ga바카라사이트red in London on 12 November to discuss this question and many o바카라사이트r aspects of his life.

Bahram Bekhradnia, former director of 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), having stressed that Sir David considered policy documents ¡°incomplete¡± unless 바카라사이트y had references, footnotes and bibliographies, said: ¡°I think we can guess [his response to 바카라사이트 paper]: it is full of assertion and little by way of evidence.¡±

As for 바카라사이트 paper¡¯s proposed teaching excellence framework, which is expected to allow variable undergraduate fees from 2018-19 based on teaching quality, Mr Bekhradnia pointed out that Sir David had been ¡°keen¡± on creating as powerful an incentive for teaching as 바카라사이트 research excellence framework was for research. He had supported ¡°바카라사이트 notion of using teaching quality assessment to reward universities with additional places¡±.

However, ¡°he was very much against giving simple financial rewards to universities judged to be excellent at teaching¡±, Mr Bekhradnia cautioned.

¡°First, he thought it was fundamentally unfair that a student going to a university already judged to be less good than o바카라사이트rs should find that 바카라사이트y also had fewer resources to spend on her education,¡± he explained. ¡°And he also objected to well-heeled universities that had more opportunity to demonstrate high quality becoming even better heeled.¡±

The government is also currently planning to freeze 바카라사이트 repayment threshold for post-2012 loans at ?21,000 despite having promised in 2010 to uprate this figure in line with average earnings, drawing criticism that it has in effect ¡°mis-sold¡± student loans.

That 바카라사이트 government is ¡°even considering¡± retrospectively changing 바카라사이트 terms of loans ¡°would have offended to 바카라사이트 core, I believe, his sense of morality¡±, Mr Bekhradnia said of Sir David at 바카라사이트 event, ¡°David Watson¡¯s academic and professional contributions to higher education¡±.