Recruitment crisis looms
“Sticking plaster” increases in higher education funding will not halt a looming recruitment crisis, MPs were told today. Sir Michael Bett told the education select committee that underfunding of higher education and the deterrent effects of student debt were turning graduates away from lecturing as a career.
Blunkett tackles skills gap
A new ladder of vocational progression from school to university will help tackle Britain’s skills gap, education and employment secretary David Blunkett said today. Further education and sixth form colleges should work closely with schools and employers.
Uneven funding threatens research base
Further concentration of government research funds at top universities will damage the United Kingdom’s research base, a Royal Society working group has warned. They have told the Higher Education Funding Council for England that middle-ranking departments make an important contribution to the nation’s research effort.