The government published a white paper last week setting out its proposals to put students ‘in the driving seat’ in the reform of higher education and make universities more accountable to them, in what the BBC’s education correspondent Sean Coughlan described as ‘an attempt to change the mood music’ after the conflict over tuition fees.
The white paper is called ‘Students at the heart at the system’, and it seeks to create a higher education sector in which universities are ‘under competitive pressure to provide better quality and lower cost’ and students are well-informed consumers, empowered by clear information about their employment prospects at the end of their chosen course.
Given the white paper’s emphasis on the part universities play in preparing students for their future careers, it is unsurprising that it also calls for more collaboration between institutions and employers in the design and delivery of courses. The government wants universities to look again at how they work with business, and gives examples of successful collaborations such as the partnership between Hewlett-Packard and the University of the West of England, which led to the development of a new BSc in enterprise computing.
Reactions to the white paper were mixed. Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students, expressed the view that ‘market competition alone will not drive up quality’. He said, ‘Fees have been tripled and students have been exposed to the potential chaos of the market and yet there are still no concrete proposals for how quality, accountability and access will be improved.’
The university think-thank million+, which represents a number of newer institutions, was also unconvinced. Professor Les Ebdon, chair of million+, said there was ‘absolutely no evidence that the competition ministers are trying to inject will actually improve the quality of the student experience’.
However, Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities, said she welcomed much of what was in the white paper, ‘including the government’s commitment to a more diverse and competitive higher education sector which ensures high standards and puts students first’. Nevertheless, she expressed concern that some of the proposals could have unintended consequences, such as making it harder for some universities to maintain teaching in strategically important subjects such as sciences and languages.
Posted by Alison_TARGETjobs on 5 July 2011
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