Education: Further Education Colleges

Lord Bilimoria Excerpts

Tuesday 9th October 2012 Grand Committee

[Lord Bilimoria]

My Lords, in 2005 I was appointed chancellor of Thames Valley University, now the University of West London. At that time I was by far the youngest university chancellor in the country. Prior to that I had been on the board of governors of TVU for five years, and I saw first-hand the unique contribution that a modern institution like TVU was able to make to education. In many ways, it was the other end of the spectrum of traditional universities, such as my old university, Cambridge. TVU was able to reach people and teach courses that Cambridge could never dream of.

One of our mottos at TVU was “Further and Higher” because it provided both further education and higher education where students had the opportunity to come in and study quite often a vocational FE course and then had the option of moving straight into employment with that qualification and knowledge, or to stay on, study more and move into higher education and graduate with a degree. In fact, the very successful community colleges in the United States, which were based on two-year courses, have historically enabled students who were unable to go to university to engage in post-secondary education and, if they had the will and were able to, to progress on to universities and obtain undergraduate degrees.

I would like to ask the Government what measures they are taking to provide students of further education colleges with opportunities to progress to universities and to top-up their FE qualifications to graduate. Are they encouraging formal links to be made between FE colleges and neighbouring universities? At TVU we were able to provide this under one roof, which made it much easier. I have seen the power of education: once people’s eyes are open to it and they are on that ladder, they want to learn more. Are we providing enough opportunities for our people to do this?

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, for initiating this debate, and for her commendable report on putting colleges at the heart of local communities. American FE colleges are called community colleges because they are meant to be accessible to their local communities. Basically, there should be opportunity and accessibility for school leavers, particularly now that the Government have made it mandatory for children to continue education until the age of 18, and for adults who want to engage in FE for the first time, quite often part time, as well as for those who want to learn more to improve their prospects or to change their tack, at the community’s doorstep.

At TVU we worked very closely with the businesses and the communities surrounding our campuses. However, the Government have put in harmful cuts to adult education. Will they admit that adult learners will be deterred by the fact that they will now be expected to take out loans to fund their further education? Is this the way the Government want to encourage our workforce to get skilled?

Our FE colleges provide so much vocational training that is desperately needed to improve the skills of our workforce. We have a skills shortage in this country. The Government’s apprenticeship schemes are great and laudable, but does the Minister agree that apprenticeships can be greatly enhanced by attending FE colleges as well and gaining qualifications in a formal setting? At TVU, the London School of Hospitality is one of the jewels in our crown. It is one of the best hospitality and catering schools. We created a course with Buckingham Palace for butlers and valets. The students gain work experience in the palace, as well as attending classes at the London School of Hospitality. They have on the job, on the ground training, as well as the benefits of being in a college environment.

I see that the report of the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, recommends ways of helping SMEs with apprenticeships and consultancy support. Will the Government support this? We talked of FE colleges working with the local community. A few years ago in Hounslow, Gillette closed down its famous factory and moved to eastern Europe. TVU helped train and reskill the redundant workforce so they could be re-employed.

The Government are removing the educational maintenance allowance. Students will now be deterred from pursuing full-time further education from the ages of 16 to 18. Do the Government not think it is important that we should encourage our children in that age group to be full-time students, and that this will harm them?

In conclusion, Britain’s greatest strength is its people. British education is respected around the world. Our universities and those of America are the best in the world. However, to be able to compete in particular with the rising powers of China and India, we have to prioritise education and skills and support further education, both in modern universities like the University of West London, and in the form of local FE colleges, integrated into their local communities. This is key to our country being able to compete in the future.