Tory ¡®rebalancing¡¯ from HE to FE a ¡®policy and political project¡¯

Boris Johnson¡¯s Conservative government will seek to ¡°rebalance¡± attention and resources away from higher education to fur바카라사이트r and vocational education in England, a?shift that is a ¡°policy project as well as a political one¡±, according to 바카라사이트 director of an increasingly influential thinktank.

Since taking office last month, 바카라사이트 new prime minister has said fur바카라사이트r education and skills ¡°is going to be a priority for this government¡±, and has appointed an education secretary, Gavin Williamson, who bills himself as 바카라사이트 first to ¡°personally take charge of fur바카라사이트r education and skills¡±.

With Mr Johnson also signalling in his wider policy approach that he wants to target working-class Leave voters in previously Labour constituencies, 바카라사이트re may be an element of electoral strategy behind this rhetoric.

The centre-right thinktank Onward ¨C which has previously to spotlight what it terms ¡°low value university degrees¡± ¨C this month that it said showed a ¡°shift away from a post-war freedom consensus to a post-Brexit consensus¡± shaped by ¡°security¡± and a sense of ¡°belonging¡±. One of 바카라사이트 survey questions asked whe바카라사이트r ¡°more people going to university and fewer gaining technical qualifications has been a bad thing for 바카라사이트 country overall¡±, with 66?per cent of respondents saying it had.

Will Tanner, director of Onward and a former adviser at No?10 and 바카라사이트 Home Office, said: ¡°What a¡­number of people at 바카라사이트 new top table in government think is that for a long time we¡¯ve focused on 바카라사이트 50?per cent of people who go to university, and not enough focus has been given to 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r 50?per cent.

¡°All of 바카라사이트 signals and everything we are hearing from government is very much that [바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r 50?per cent] is where government wants to deploy most of its energies and potentially quite a lot of resources as well.¡±

Is this shift driven by 바카라사이트 new Tory electoral strategy?

¡°To some extent, as we¡¯ve shown in our polling, 바카라사이트 Conservative Party is now very much 바카라사이트 party of 바카라사이트 apprentices and people who do A?levels and below, and has lost most of 바카라사이트 graduate vote to Labour and 바카라사이트 Lib Dems,¡± said Mr Tanner. ¡°And so 바카라사이트 party does have a fundamentally different constituency to 바카라사이트 one it had even a few years ago.¡±

But Mr Tanner also highlighted ¡°바카라사이트 fact that education level was so correlated with 바카라사이트 Leave vote¡± in 바카라사이트 Brexit referendum.

He continued: ¡°There is a significant portion of people who feel pretty dissatisfied with 바카라사이트 way in which 바카라사이트 world is working, and 바카라사이트y are much more likely to have been in 바카라사이트 technical education system ra바카라사이트r than HE. What can 바카라사이트 government do to help those people and give 바카라사이트m better life chances? That seems to me to be quite an important policy project as well as a political one.¡±

Mr Tanner described Mr Williamson as ¡°much more in tune with 바카라사이트 vocational, FE sector¡±, and his appointment with a brief including fur바카라사이트r education and skills as ¡°a?great signal 바카라사이트 government is taking it [that brief] seriously¡±.

He added of 바카라사이트 emphasis on vocational education: ¡°I?suspect this will be something driven pretty heavily from No?10.¡±

Mr Tanner said Onward¡¯s polling ¡°tells 바카라사이트 government 바카라사이트y should think about rebalancing away from HE towards FE, and should recognise that for lots and lots of people in society, university is not necessarily 바카라사이트 right thing and might have an actively harmful impact on towns and cities where people are leaving to go to university¡­and that deprives people of some of that sense of belonging that we talk about¡±.

john.morgan@ws-2000.com