By Helen Rainbow
Our education system is top-down, prescriptive and unresponsive to the wishes and needs of its users. Students both at school and in further education are let down.
The unresponsiveness of the system is due to the “maze” of departments, initiatives and an incredible 29 quangos that aim to deliver an “effective” skills policy post-18. In further education for example it is completely unrealistic to expect the system to take into account the needs of students – whose futures are ultimately decided by the quality of its courses – when their courses have to be vetted by 13 different regulators.
The system needs to be turned on its head, which has led to the recommendation in Reform’s new report for the introduction of individual education accounts. These accounts would give people the freedom to do what they wanted post-18, whether that is to undertake a science degree or complete a course of work-based training. Individual education accounts would be comprised of the funding that currently goes towards teaching and capital grants for post-18 learning – a total of £9.6 billion for those aged under-25. This would enable every 18 year old to be given £13,000 over three years to contribute to their learning. These accounts could be opened at birth in place of child trust funds to encourage parents and others to put money aside for their children’s education.
This amount would cover the cost of three years’ education at the majority of higher education institutions, or courses in further education courses and in the workplace. It would mean an essential redistribution of funding from better off students who typically attend elite universities to poorer students who are more likely to take a non-academic route.
Students have become enlightened consumers. Evidence shows that when students have more knowledge of the costs of education they are more likely to choose options that will benefit them more in the long-term. In the short period of time since tuition fees have risen the proportion of students opting for science and maths courses has increased. International evidence also shows that countries with some of the highest fees also have some of the highest rates of participation in higher education. These countries also have very high rates of participation from lower income groups in comparison to the UK.
A crucial element of this and the reason behind high participation rates in other countries is a well-structured and accessible system of student support. This would involve easy access to subsidised loans and bursaries for students at many universities. Some of the world’s best universities such as Harvard and Yale offer needs-blind access so that students who attend from lower income backgrounds don’t have to pay anything towards their fees.
Re-orientating the system towards students would force institutions to change in response to student demand. We may see the introduction of distance learning at Cambridge and the evolution of more business sponsored degrees like Network Rail sponsored degree at Sheffield Hallam.
Individual education accounts offer a way towards a new type of system. This is urgently needed. At present the system is overrun by bureaucracy from the “maze” of institutions – it is unresponsive to both the demands of students and the wider needs of the economy. Skills, particularly high level skills, are going to become increasingly crucial as we attempt to drive up output in the wake of a recession. It is essential that all members of society are able to engage in the opportunities that education provides, rather than the few. It is time to make big decisions about the future of education, and to face the prospect that new and more radical change is needed.
Helen Rainbow is Senior Health Researcher at Reform
