Part time is crucial to regeneration<\/strong><\/h2>\nProfessor Fribbance said: \u201cAt the higher education level specifically, there is clear evidence that in England the part-time market has shrunk for lifelong learning. There\u2019s been a 27% overall decline of higher education study in coastal communities \u2013 in part-time students that\u2019s nearer 60%, and this is down to changes in funding arrangements. Mature students are more debt averse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Committee member Baroness Whitaker noted that \u201cpart time [is] crucial to regeneration and upskilling.\u201d\u00a0 Flexible study options support upskilling and social mobility, and part-time study could help deliver the skills coastal communities need by developing \u2018homegrown\u2019 talent.<\/p>\n
Professor Fribbance emphasised how partnerships can help these communities, with colleges, schools, universities and businesses joining forces: \u201cIn many areas there will never be bricks and mortar universities but a regime where The Open University works with colleges and businesses could facilitate the regeneration needed. This could bring access to local apprenticeships, entrepreneurial skills, and routes into higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing their own talent<\/strong><\/h2>\nCommittee member The Lord Bishop of Lincoln, Christopher Lowson, spoke about a \u2018brain drain\u2019 from coastal areas, where people go away to university and spend their working lives in more urban areas. \u00a0Professor Fribbance noted that some employers are responding to this by \u2018growing their own\u2019 talent. He said:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Nursing-seven-essentials-for-caring-for-a-dying-person_74083033-300x213.jpg\")
\u201cThere is a sense that employers like the NHS are growing their own staff. For example, the OU supports nursing programmes, and we have had successes in the Isle of Wight and Cornwall, where there is a big need to develop nurses from other categories of staff. Students who stay in place and study flexibly, part-time, are more likely to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Future world is one of retraining<\/strong><\/h2>\nProfessor Fribbance emphasised that education should not be conceptualised as just for the young, saying, \u201cThe future world is one of retraining and learning new skills; this is really important in these coastal communities, many of which are higher education cold spots. We must expect in the future that people can study again into their 20s, 30s and 40s \u2013 who knows what job an 18-year-old will be doing when they are 48?\u201d<\/p>\n
Committee Member Lord McNally remembered the day that Jennie Lee persuaded Harold Wilson not to cancel the OU. He said: \u201cI\u2019m a great believer we have in the OU a great National asset. Education itself has got to get smart and flexible if it is going to persuade the Treasury and others to give\u2026the funding to meet this new changing economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch the Committee session on Parliament TV<\/a>.<\/p>\nYou can read the OU\u2019s written submission to the Committee<\/a> online.<\/p>\nFind out more about how the OU is training nursing associates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Committee member The Lord Bishop of Lincoln, Christopher Lowson, spoke about a \u2018brain drain\u2019 from coastal areas, where people go away to university and spend their working lives in more urban areas. \u00a0Professor Fribbance noted that some employers are responding to this by \u2018growing their own\u2019 talent. He said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a sense that employers like the NHS are growing their own staff. For example, the OU supports nursing programmes, and we have had successes in the Isle of Wight and Cornwall, where there is a big need to develop nurses from other categories of staff. Students who stay in place and study flexibly, part-time, are more likely to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Future world is one of retraining<\/strong><\/h2>\nProfessor Fribbance emphasised that education should not be conceptualised as just for the young, saying, \u201cThe future world is one of retraining and learning new skills; this is really important in these coastal communities, many of which are higher education cold spots. We must expect in the future that people can study again into their 20s, 30s and 40s \u2013 who knows what job an 18-year-old will be doing when they are 48?\u201d<\/p>\n
Committee Member Lord McNally remembered the day that Jennie Lee persuaded Harold Wilson not to cancel the OU. He said: \u201cI\u2019m a great believer we have in the OU a great National asset. Education itself has got to get smart and flexible if it is going to persuade the Treasury and others to give\u2026the funding to meet this new changing economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch the Committee session on Parliament TV<\/a>.<\/p>\nYou can read the OU\u2019s written submission to the Committee<\/a> online.<\/p>\nFind out more about how the OU is training nursing associates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
You can read the OU\u2019s written submission to the Committee<\/a> online.<\/p>\n Find out more about how the OU is training nursing associates<\/a>.<\/p>\n