Are We Loosing The University Challenge?
Alistair Owens http://www.keen2learn.co.uk
Britain has one of the highest teenage educational drop out rates of any developed country. Ten per rent of 15 -19 year olds are NEETS. (Not in employment, education or training) Worst still are the number graduates abandoning degrees courses.
The UK is just above Turkey, Israel, Spain and Brazil for teenage drop outs says the organisation for Economic co-operation and Development (OECD). We are also in the top league for abandoning higher education. Thirty three per cent of university Students quit before graduating. And these figures were calculated before the recession; the situation has bound to have deteriorated.
Despite the lure of improved salaries, realising an estimated additional £113,000 during their working life, graduates are currently finding it tough financially. Many prefer to pitch into the job market earlier to earn an income, avoid the massive student loan debt and maybe put a foot into the housing market. All of which can easily outweigh the gross graduate benefits.
Our current level of educational investment is pitched only at the OECD average. By comparison graduates in Poland have risen from 34 per cent of total graduate aged people in 2000, to 47 per cent in 2007. Britain in the same period has stalled at 37 per cent, of whom 33 per cent abandoned the course. If we reduce the level of investment due to the recession we can only slip further down the league. And we run the risk of clocking up a serious shortfall towards meeting the demand for graduates in commerce. The now global market will inevitably seek qualified or aspiring graduates from overseas. Britain can be a huge looser in this equation.
A concern is the perceived value of degrees. Analysis reveals the ranking in earnings potential. Economics and maths score highly, whilst a degree in life sciences show little real benefit compared to a non graduate. This, coupled to the increasing cost of fees and living expenses, may be percolating through to the student. There is a growing decline in the vocational relevance of a degree in future employment, resulting in a huge waste of trained resource. We perhaps need to rethink the format and benefit of degree courses. Are they matched to employer needs and opportunities or becoming too expensive and thereby becoming socially divisive? Britain must plan ahead now. Leaving it to when we emerge from the current round of economic unrest we may be short of talent.
