Universities must "hunt down" more talent, says minister
Universities must "hunt down" more talent, says minister
Universities are doing good work in widening participation but must do more to "hunt down" more talent, says lifelong-learning and higher-education minister Margaret Hodge. Speaking at a University of London Union debate, Mrs Hodge defended the Government's target of having 50 per cent participation in higher education. She said both the Government and universities had a lot more to do to widen access further, but could learn much from universities such as Liverpool, Imperial College, and King's College London that were already meeting their benchmarks for social class. Mrs Hodge said: "It has been suggested that getting 50 per cent of 18-30 year olds into higher education by 2010 is either wrong or impossible. The fact is that the target is tough but it is achievable. It is not an act of political correctness, but an ambition driven by economic necessity. Our latest estimate is that around 41.5 per cent of young people under 30 are entering higher education. We only need around a 1 percentage point increase each year to help us to meet the 50 per cent target. The record number of UCAS acceptances last year shows we are on our way."
The Minister pointed out that labour-market forecasts predict 1.7 million more new jobs in occupations which need graduate skills over the next decade and argued that the UK is not in the business of creating graduates for whom there are no jobs. "In fact, by introducing the foundation degree, more graduates will leave higher education with the necessary vocational expertise to help us to meet the skills gap in future years. This is a joint challenge between the Government and the sector. The Government will continue to raise standards in secondary schools so that more students from state schools are getting the right qualifications to enable them to progress. However, this is as much about raising aspirations as raising standards. Too many youngsters from disadvantaged areas feel that university is not right for them or that they are not right for university. We know that four out of ten young people in the lower-income groups never think about university as an option for themselves during their school years. That is why we have launched a campaign to change these perceptions and encourage young people to aim higher."
