A Degree in Selling Cars

The ripples of the Leitch Report spread far and wide, and it seems universities are not immune to its influence. That, and of course the drive for universities to generate funding, has no doubt led in some small way to the idea that universities need to provide more training to meet employer's skill shortages.

This BBC article talks about Loughborough University's collaboration with Ford to create a BSc in Car Dealership. Going, it seems, are the days when multinational corporations were capable of training their own staff to meet the needs of their business, from the expertise held within the company.

While some may chuckle at the idea, doing it this way does have some advantages for the individual, not least of which is that their training, while useful to the company, will also be a formally recognised qualification.

From the government's point of view this is great because it means more people are getting university degrees (one of their other priorities along with basic skills for the under achieving), but I will talk more about this and the magic growth in favour of the "Foundation Degree" over HNDs and L4 NVQs in another post.

Which Costs More? Evening Classes or Mental Heath Care?

The BBC reports that the government's response to the Leitch Report, while driving a focus on basic skills, has left adult learners missing out on Life-long Learning.

Associate Director of the National Institute of Adult Coninuing Education (Niace) Stephen McNair is reported to have said:

"There are clear benefits in terms of public health and social cohesion from life-long learning that are not recognised by the government..." (BBC)

It seems that Niace is now using this approach to try to pressurise the government into increasing funding for education for personal development (perhaps Life-long Learning in its purest sense).

In response the government reckon they are investing a further £210 million in "informal adult learning". No small sum but only a teeny tiny % of the total LSC budget.

I suspect that what we have heard of the government's response is, at least for now, the best statement they can give to the press at this moment in time. Meanwhile I hope they do look at how feasible it is to oil the machinery giving money to "informal adult learning" on a grander scale.

Being cynical for a moment I suspect they will do it in style if it means they spend less on mental health via the NHS (in other words produce cost savings elsewhere) but otherwise the momentum they have in developing basic skills, and "upskilling" the "work force", will mean that education for recreation or personal development will probably not get much light in the near future. Don't forget, the government are trying to get the economy going, as well as improving the UK's position internationally as a base of skills and that means giving people work skills.

Evening classes for the long term incapacitated, women at home with small children, carers and the elderly, in languages and art, hardly fits that bill. So for now they are unlikely to become a pressing government priority.

Having said that, I do agree with Niace on this one. But then I am biased, any proposal that allocates more funding to FE institutions is, from my perspective, a good thing. After all, I do work for one.

F.E. Management Under Scrutiny

While lecturers up and down the country have this notion of F.E. being a business drumed into them by managers in order to instill concern over meeting targets, do F.E. managers understand that F.E. is a business to a degree appropriate for their role?

Why do I ask? One side effect of the new teacher training courses (DTLLS and GDTLLS) especially in year 2, is that lecturers are encouraged to explore, examine and criticise the business functions of their institution. As such, management suddenly come under scrutiny from their subordinates to a degree previously un-encountered. Gone are the days of generic moaning about policy and management demands - this has now been replaced by serious study, research and analysis - level 5 and Level 6 analysis at that. All in all, the new graduates, when they moan, will be doing it with new authority. Managers and policies are being appraised by their subordinates as never before.

What then are these lecturers finding in their research? What recommendations are coming out of their analysis?

At this point I can only comment on my own findings (though feel free to leave comments). Early findings indicate the following:

• Short Term and Medium Term business goals are in conflict.
• Lack of synergy between important areas of business function.
• Marketing can and should be more closely aligned to business objectives.
• Pressure to pass sub-standard student work to meet targets diminishes staff morale and respect for management.

Are the managers aware of these issues and taking appropriate action? Do they listen to fresh ideas from the ground floor?

I suggest that the degree to which these two questions can be answered in the affirmative is a primary indicator of the degree to which managers understand that F.E. is a business, and treat it as such.

One very heartening thing I can say in favour of our new management... we have been invited to give feedback, we have been asked to tell them the things they may not want to hear. This is very refreshing. However, I wonder how many will dare to do it? It very much depends on whether the aim of management is to root out and squash the criticisms, or whether they are truly open to new ideas, and willing to hear them out non-judgementally.

QIA a success - but may be streamlined

The Quality Improvement Agency (QIA), set up by the government to "streamline" efforts to raise the game across further education, has announced a saving of £23m in its first year of operations.

The quango, which might itself fall victim to streamlining if colleges are granted self-regulation by government, says it is making an impact on almost every college and training company in the country.

Read on >

Related News Websites

Your tutor probably drummed into you the importance of keeping up with the latest developments in industry, you know, that national and international viewpoint we need to be analysing against.

Anyway, here are a few news sites that might augment your reading in the Times Ed, and the FE Focus:

http://www.fenews.co.uk/
http://www.tes.co.uk/
http://education.guardian.co.uk/further/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/default.stm
http://news.independent.co.uk/education/education_news/

Dig in...