Learning them literacy Gordon Oakes, Minister of State, Department of Education & Science, speaking at the Adult Literacy Unit Conference held recently in London
Gordon Oakes, lately Minister of State, Department of Education & Science, was speaking at the presentation of the national award of the National Examinations Board for…
Abstract
Gordon Oakes, lately Minister of State, Department of Education & Science, was speaking at the presentation of the national award of the National Examinations Board for Supervisory Studies, of which the winning project was on Refuse Disposal and Waste Avoidance.
A number of Authorities have established sixth‐form colleges in order to economise on provision at sixth‐form level, but these are still run under secondary regulations. This…
Abstract
A number of Authorities have established sixth‐form colleges in order to economise on provision at sixth‐form level, but these are still run under secondary regulations. This creates problems in effecting co‐operation and possibly eventual merger with adjacent further education colleges. Is there any reason why all institutions which admit students only when they are over the compulsory school‐leaving age should not be run under further education regulations? Although where would still be differences in treatment between 16–19 year olds in all‐through secondary schools and in post‐16 institutions, the anomalies would be much less than in the present system where sixth‐form colleges operate under secondary regulations.
The number of students in higher education has increased steadily since the early 1960s. In recent years, the proportion of school‐leavers qualified for and wanting to go on to…
Abstract
The number of students in higher education has increased steadily since the early 1960s. In recent years, the proportion of school‐leavers qualified for and wanting to go on to higher education has remained fairly constant. But, even so, total student numbers have continued to go up because the number of 18‐year‐olds has been increasing year by year, reflecting the rising birthrate in the late 1950s and early 1960s. But this situation will not last much longer. The birthrate has fallen persistently every year since 1964; already this has produced a big decline in primary school rolls, and now it is beginning to affect secondary schools. From 1982 it will produce a decline in the number of 18‐year‐olds, which will become much steeper from 1989. How might the higher education system develop in the face of this prospect?
A great many of our shortcomings can be traced back to inadequate management, whether for want of foresight, inexperience, or simply a lack of appropriate training. There have…
Abstract
A great many of our shortcomings can be traced back to inadequate management, whether for want of foresight, inexperience, or simply a lack of appropriate training. There have been shining exceptions, it is true; but in the main, any enterprise can only be as good as its managers allow. And our record seems to speak for itself. If management is falling short of our needs, then we have to look again at the process by which managers are produced, educated, trained, and assisted to keep up with new developments. This is what we are concerned with here at this conference.
An effective system of management and financial control of higher education in the public sector is essential if the polytechnics and other colleges are to play a full part in…
Abstract
An effective system of management and financial control of higher education in the public sector is essential if the polytechnics and other colleges are to play a full part in future developments over the next decade. Whatever the outcome of the present discussions about that decade, higher education in the public sector had an important continuing role. The main reasons for the review are that under the present system there is no effective mechanism for central planning in the maintained sector, and financial responsibilities are not clearly defined. There are three particular criticisms of the present system.
I would not want to argue that there should be any attempt to match the content of education precisely to manpower needs; it cannot be done. But breaking down the isolation of…
Abstract
I would not want to argue that there should be any attempt to match the content of education precisely to manpower needs; it cannot be done. But breaking down the isolation of education for the world outside would be worthwhile, and the relationship of further and higher education with industry should be closer that it is at present. It is not that difficult for a businessman to identify an appropriate department in a university, or to find out who in particular might be able to help with a problem. But the reverse process is infinitely more complicated and difficult. Many lecturers in FHE have established good if somewhat limited contacts, but one simply cannot expect them all to have the time or inclination. So why not see whether it is practicable to establish a contact point?
The latest odd metaphor to enter educational jargon is that of Capping the Pool. It refers to the proposal of the Government in its present Education Bill to control the amount…
Abstract
The latest odd metaphor to enter educational jargon is that of Capping the Pool. It refers to the proposal of the Government in its present Education Bill to control the amount which local authorities collectively may spend on advanced further education, or higher education in the public sector, and the way in which the total sum is distributed among local education authorities. It may occur to readers that in civil engineering (and it is from engineering that most metaphors about education are drawn these days — a sign of the curricular times) it is impossible to cap a pool of any great size, save at enormous expense. Yet this one — the total cost of AFE outside the universities — is itself enormous; and it is to be capped not only at no cost, but with a saving to the Exchequer. Miracles never cease.