One of the things that really energised me as a candidate during the general election campaign was education – yet it received scant wider debate. VAT on private education grabbed some headlines, along with financial stresses in higher education and teachers’ pay. But there was little discussion of education in general. Exam results will be out this month and we will celebrate. No doubt we will also have the ritual fuss about exam regimes, and Labour will talk about its planned review of the curriculum and assessment. The real scandal, though, is in how we fail 16 to 21-year-olds in further education (FE) and training.
This issue has great relevance to us here in North Dorset.
Kingston Maurward College is merging with Weymouth College from the beginning of August. Kingston Maurward faced acute financial pressures, and might have been forced to close without drastic action. The college is important for our rural economy here in North Dorset as both a centre of excellence and also the closest provider of agricultural and horticultural courses. A merger of two universities in the troubled higher education sector might command national media attention, but not this merger of colleges – because it is in the equally-troubled FE sector. Yes, there is a difference in scale, but I am drawing attention to an ingrained and unjust indifference to further education.
The FE sector has been underfunded and undervalued for years, and recently it has been under acute financial pressure. A drive to give parity between vocational and academic qualifications led to the introduction of T-levels by the Conservative government. These T-levels were dumped in the dying days of that administration, for lack of money and direction. Successive governments have talked the talk on apprenticeships and further education, but they have not then walked the walk.
We have a desperate need in the UK for a more skilled and motivated workforce – and the most obvious route to it is to provide attractive, well-funded training to young people.
We are simply not doing enough. Department for Education statistics show a 40 per cent reduction in under 19-year-olds registered in apprenticeships since 2010. That’s at least 50,000 fewer apprentices, with the greatest reduction since 2016.
Labour says it will set up Skills England, make some changes to the Apprenticeship Levy, and will turn FE Colleges into specialist Technical Excellence Colleges.
What progress will we actually see on this in five years’ time?
The path to growth in our economy is through investment in people and capital. The new government needs to stop paying them lip service and instead demonstrate that it really values further education and training for young people. Businesses invest where there are skilled people, and people are in turn attracted to where there are good jobs. We need a virtuous circle like this in North Dorset if we are to thrive, and it all starts with strong FE and HE colleges nearby.
I send best wishes for the future to the staff and students at Kingston Maurward College and our FE colleges across Dorset. We need and value what they do.
Gary Jackson
North Dorset Liberal Democrats
