50% Participation in HE: Realistic or just a Dream?

Rather than just plucking targets from the air, the UK deserves a systematic analysis of the expansion of Higher Education. Dick Evans explains why. The present government has set a target of a 50% participation in Higher Education, by the year 2010 for people under the age of 30. Obviously it’s an important and worthy aspiration but is it realistic or possible? As Barry Sheerman (Chair of the Commons Education Committee) stated, “If it is a figure plucked from the air it could seriously distort the higher education system. The priority now is immediate action to raise pay in universities

21st Century Skills

Realising Our Potential, The Skills Strategy White Paper. This was a real opportunity to provide a lead in combating future skill shortages, however Dr Dick Evans wonders whether anything tangible has been offered. The aim of the national Skills Strategy is to ensure that employers have the right skills to support the success of their businesses and individuals have the skills they need to be both employable and personally fulfilled. I intend to adopt a different perspective in reviewing the White Paper. Other contributors to ‘t’ magazine will provide a detailed analysis of the proposals and recommendations contained in the

‘A’ Levels and The Baccalaureat

How would a broader based curriculum along international lines improve the ‘gold standard’- Dr Dick Evans investigates. Following the fiasco of the introduction of Curriculum 2000 (C2k) the Secretary of State has suggested the possible development and introduction of a baccalaureat type examination to replace the GCE ‘A’ level. The supposed gold standard protected and cherished by successive governments has suddenly lost its lustre as a result of this year’s problems with the GCE ‘A’ level results. The current arrangements for post-16 qualifications and the new national qualifications framework introduced in 2000 followed largely from the major review carried out