3 Hereford Journal letter pages - more on my reply Home page here
The letters here now include links and more information.
An Overview of the letters is here
The letters in full on their own without paragraph identifiers are here
Paragraph letters and numbers as seen below will help readers when they reply with letters for publication to karen.evans@shropshirestar.co.uk If you would like more information, then please use my reply system.
Additional text in the published letters is in this colour. Links are in blue text.
To help readers locate their points of interest, the letter paragraphs are identified alphabetically.
The supplementary text is identified by numbers.
This way of doing things also enables readers to reply using the identifiers rather than saying "in the third paragraph of X's letter".
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The published letters - main points
9 April
STEPHEN CONSTANCE:
A a move afoot to add to the motley collection of universities in this country
B we are not producing things anymore
C only a third of the young people who attend university should do so
D This is a 21st century holy cow . . . leaving them little time to rebel or question the system.
E What we really need are more 'doers'
F we are told that they scarcely have the resources to keep the public libraries or toilets open?
G can they please get their priorities right (re) another futile and money-squandering exercise.
16 April
JIM MCQUARRIE:
H a call to arms for anyone who cares about the county.
I we are over-burdened with "academics" who leave "uni" only to become . . . unfulfilled.
J (i) It would be much wiser to (focus on) taking 14yrs+ kids and teaching them . . .practical skills.
(ii) We might have the chance to create something unique and to be proud of in this beautiful county!
30 April
ALAN F HARRISON - a reply
K a more in-depth treatment based on evaluating the New University for Hereford (NUH) website
L there should be as many routes as possible from FE to HE
M re J (i) the NUH is a separate issue which will come to fruition, like it or not
N NUH needs people like Stephen Constance and Jim McQuarrie on its organisation team.
P There's (many) difficult questions to be . . . answered . . . when NUH speaks for itself on this page.
Additional quotations and relevant text - headings
1 Difficult questions to be asked and answered
2 The Future of Higher Education
3 Herefordshire Local Plan Core Strategy 2011 - 2031
4 Population growth over 30 years to be 3.8% according to NUH
5 Why a new university in Herefordshire?
Here are the letters in full
Letter 9 April p 7
University would be a huge folly
A
TO my dismay, I see there is a move afoot to add to the motley collection of universities in this country by siting another in our own embattled county of Hereford. (Shire is Saxon for 'county' and should never have been put on recently replaced road signs.)
B
Can no-one see that the reason the UK is still over a trillion pounds in debt and in almost perpetual decline is primarily attributable to the fact that we are not producing things anymore?
C
I am convinced that only a third of the young people who attend university should do so and that Tony Blair's discredited mantra 'Education, Education, Education' has been a recipe for failure, resulting in a whole generation being conned into thinking that the only way to achieve success in life is to attend 'uni'.
D
This is a 21st century holy cow inflicted upon them by insidious and subtle indoctrination from the time they enter school to the time they leave college, mainly to satisfy the Government's imposed targets and to encase them in debt - leaving them little time to rebel or question the system.
E
What we really need are more 'doers' and less frustrated academics, a lot of whom go on to jobs which have nothing to do with the degree they have obtained.
F
And finally, to cast an eye on our often lamentable and misguided council! Why are they even contemplating a seminary for higher tertiary education when we are told that they scarcely have the resources to keep the public libraries or toilets open?
G
If there. is money to spare for such a doubtful undertaking as a local university, why are they making savage cuts in almost every other direction, and can they please get their priorities right before committing themselves to another futile and money-squandering exercise.
STEPHEN CONSTANCE
St Martin's Street Hereford
Letter 16 April p 7
A call to arms over our practical skills
H
STEPHEN Constance's letter (April 9) was a call to arms for anyone who cares about the county.
I
I moved here in 1987, having been presented a job opportunity at now-defunct Thorn Lighting (then the city's second largest employer). I agree entirely with his view that we are over-burdened with "academics" who leave "uni" only to become disenchanted, indebted, and unfulfilled.
J
It would be much wiser to set up a school/college/academy specialising in taking 14yrs+ kids and teaching them building, engineering, agricultural, and practical skills. For the same amount of cash it would cost to repeat the foibles of other counties, we might have the chance to create something unique and to be proud of in this beautiful county!
JIM MCQUARRIE
Via email
Letter 30 April p 7
Working together is key to the project
K
Stephen Constance's letter of 9 April makes sense in the economic climate. His comments, however, will benefit readers by a more in-depth treatment based on evaluating the New University for Hereford (NUH) website. Readers need not look for the website as they will find it and lots of relevant information and evaluation via carerworld.info
L
We are informed by NUH that it " . . . will be working in close collaboration with Herefordshire College of Arts, Hereford & Ludlow College, and the Royal National College for the Blind to ensure that Herefordshire is recognized as a national centre of excellence in education." I came into Higher Education from Further Education and part time degrees and firmly believe there should be as many routes as possible from FE to HE. One of my pages looks at the innovative Hereford & Ludlow College which is already developing the pathway for those in F E to make the transition to H E. The page is here.
M
Jim McQuarrie's letter (16 April) suggests provision for practical skills for young people 14yrs+. I taught within such provision from 1962 to 1965 as an untrained teacher with technical qualifications and would support future provision. However, the NUH is a separate issue which will come to fruition, like it or not. I have asked NUH about the route into it from FE (and other things) only to be ignored.
N
NUH needs people like Stephen Constance and Jim McQuarrie on its organisation team. The practical issues need to be faced with feet-on-the-ground advice.
P Not O re possible confusion with nought
There's an abundance of difficult questions to be asked and answered concerning a new University for Hereford. Through the auspices of the Hereford Journal and working together, we'll find answers which guide our aspirant undergraduates to a tailor-made university on their doorstep - when NUH speaks for itself on this page.
Q
More reader letters are needed and from every town in the county. We ought to be doing what we can to increase public awareness in other ways including writing to our MPs and local councillors. We need more than 3.5 voices as heard at 1.2 here.
I pursue the take it or leave it topic much later within these pages.
Alan F Harrison (Prof, ret'd)
Ross-on-Wye
R
End of published letters. The last is a call for the New University for Hereford to speak for itself on the HJ pages. Working together is key to the project once we know what we are dealing with.
Here are additional quotations in black text with supplementary green text:
Additional quotations and relevant text - in full
1 Difficult questions to be asked and answered
Regarding "There's an abundance of difficult questions to be asked and answered . . " para Q, NUH identifies the former as:
1.1 What is the purpose of higher education in the 21st century?
1.2 What mix of higher education institutions do we want to serve a diverse, expanding student population?
1.2.1 FE forgotten? NUH aims to be an important component of tertiary education.
1.2.2 The progression from FE to HE is important within tertiary education.
1.2.3 Healthcare professionals with or without degrees are included within NUH note. Re Item 2, there was no reply.
1.3
What role can higher education play in promoting sustainable economic growth and a rebalanced economy across England?
1.4
To what extent should the overall structure of the sector be determined by market forces or to what extent should government play a strategic role?
1.5
If investment in world-class research and teaching is to keep pace with the best in the world in an age of austerity, how can we pay for it? The fundamental question - answers?
1.6
If universities are public institutions, how should they be governed?
1.7
What should be the relationship between higher education and other forms of tertiary education? See paragraph C.
Commission on the Future of Higher Education - source
2 The Future of Higher Education
In the Updates section of the site in 1.7, we read about the future of HE.
The added red text makes the point about FE:
2.1
SECURING THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
A year after IPPR here * set up the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, its final report A critical path: Securing the future of higher education in England was launched on 10th June 2013. The report, which summarises the findings and recommendations from the Commission, was welcomed by a Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunn about at its launch here. Among its key recommendations are for a £1000 student premium for universities for every recruit that comes from a disadvantaged background, as well as a call to bring back polytechnics, to strengthen the provision of vocational further education*.
* 2nd para - the "to strengthen .." text is in black. If the polytechnics return, the academics within won't relish being grouped within FE.
2.2 Developing the pathway for those in F E to make the transition to H E
2.2.1
We are informed that " The New University will be working in close collaboration with Herefordshire College of Arts, Hereford & Ludlow College, and the Royal National College for the Blind to ensure that Herefordshire is recognized as a national centre of excellence in education." It will need far more than such liaison to be thus recognised.
2.2.2
Although it's necessary to dig deep, NUH tells us:
In addition, the New University will welcome students of all ages, will feature year round operations, will accommodate longer or shorter academic schedules, will allow for significant course customization by working with new educational technologies, and will develop qualifications for those who have acquired skills in the special forces or via apprenticeships. source - top of page 3 here
The last-named are likely to be within FE.
2.2.3
One of my pages looks at the innovative Hereford & Ludlow College which is already developing the pathway for those in Further Education to make the transition to Higher Education. It is here
2.3 Sustainable Development Advocacy
Masters Degree in Sustainable Development Advocacy here. It doesn't look as if it is included on the NUH website. A missing key feature?
The course is highly innovative; students learn through lectures, team projects and work placements in organisations such as the Environment Agency, Friends of the Earth and Unilever. The experiential approach to learning means that students develop an in-depth knowledge of all areas of sustainable development and gain the skills that are attuned to the needs of employers to help them move toward more sustainable practice.
2.4
The main question
NUH asks questions like " What is the purpose of higher education in the 21st century?"
It only gives answers like - " Universities are an integral part of the supply chain to business—a supply chain that has the capability to support business growth and therefore economic prosperity."
NUH website
3 Herefordshire Local Plan Core Strategy 2011 - 2031
Readers will find out about " The placement of higher education as a key catalyst in Herefordshire Council’s economic regeneration plans" in small bites. here
4 Population growth over 30 years to be 3.8% according to NUH
This title doesn't allow for non-economically active residents.
4.1
Is it significant within our calculation of 184,000 residents of all ages and ability now?
The current, mid-2012, estimate of the county’s resident population is 184,900.here
183,000 in 2011 here
our patient population, which is currently 183,500. p2 here
184900
183000
183500
----------
551400 1/3 = 183,800 - settle for 184,000 unless readers suggest more stats. NUH agrees but disagrees here.
4.2
NUH says:
4.2.1
Over 30 years the presence of a university will create add over 7,000 economically active residents to the county.
source 7/184 = 3.8% increase. This figure doesn't allow for non-economically active residents.
4.2.2
There is a shortfall of some 17,000 economically active residents to make the county economically sustainable. source
4.3
You can see why:
4.3.1
The county has an older age structure than England & Wales as a whole, with 22% of the population aged 65 years or above (40,800 people), compared to 17% nationally.
4.3.2
The total population of Herefordshire has grown by 6% between 2001 and 2012, which is less than the 8% growth in the population of England and Wales overall. This growth has been entirely due to net in-migration (largely immigration).
4.3.3
Forecasts predict the population will grow to 205,300 by 2031.
4.4
The forecasts predict 11.6% growth in all residents which may depend on net in-migration (largely immigration). If the net in-migration is largely due to immigration, that population is unlikely to take up university places. even in the mid-term future.
4.5
There should be response from readers re comparing like with like. There should be response from readers re the next item
5 Why a new university in Herefordshire?
See the answers here.
High on page 1 of that document we find:
Recently David Willetts, the UK Universities Minister, indicated that British universities must expand by 25% in order to cope with rising demand for places and a surge in the number of young Britons. (Telegraph, October 2013)
In June 2010, the same Minister wanted to cut HE £.
David Willetts said yesterday that higher education spending has to be "tackled". He is right. He is also right to say that the current system of government funding of universities "does not contain strong incentives for universities to focus on teaching and the student experience, as opposed to research". Willetts' mention of research spending gets to the heart of one of the biggest problems British higher education today: universities protest vocally about how budget cuts will damage research, and that is a clear indication of their priories.
I suppose it is a question of what universities are really for. If, as I think Willetts implies, universities are primarily there to provide higher education for young people, then the government should follow a course of action which will cut spending on research and reserve it for teaching. If, as many others doubtless feel, the most important role of universities is to conduct pioneering research, then the only option is to save what is left of government funding for that.
.