The Long Game – How to reboot skills training for disadvantaged adults, <\/a><\/em>published today (15 June 2020), highlights the damage done to the part-time higher education adult learning sector by government policy over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIt warns that Britain\u2019s workers with the lowest skills in life will have most to fear in a future impacted by an \u201cimpending coronavirus-induced recession\u201d with many people needing to retrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A “lifeline” to those trying to turn their lives around<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The report\ncites the 70 per cent drop in adults enrolling in part-time higher education\nsince 2009\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nhis foreword championing the CSJ\u2019s report, Chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee Rt Hon Robert\nHalfon MP<\/strong> calls the fragility of\nadult learning one of \u201cthe most pressing issues of our time\u201d because it throws\na \u201clifeline\u201d to those attempting to turn around a poor start in life. <\/p>\n\n\n\nCalling for the government to \u201cnurse part-time learning back to health\u201d he underlines one of the key recommendations in the report to reinstate fee grants for disadvantaged part-time learners with skills needs. The report also recommends restoring the part-time student premium, which has fallen by 16 percent since 2018\/19 to its former level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPart-time learners are often more mature\nand tend to have financial commitments. Over a third have dependents to\nthink about. And many are from modest backgrounds. We should reinstate fee\ngrants for disadvantaged part-time learners who meet our skills needs,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding\nto the report Professor\nTim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University<\/strong>, said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe Open University fully supports calls to reboot skills training for disadvantaged adults. Where you start in life should not limit your future success, yet significant barriers remain through government policies and funding decisions. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n“That is why solutions proposed by the Centre for Social Justice such as reintroducing tuition fee grants for disadvantaged part-time learners and restoring part-time premium funding are so critical if we are to truly widen participation across the whole of adult learning. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cPart-time distance learning is a fundamental part of the learning fabric for every community, it knows no boundaries and it works in collaboration with the bricks and mortar offer. The thousands of Open University students in every part of the country lay testament to that fact. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n“Therefore, we welcome this report and the spotlight it shines on the value of part-time distance learning, offering opportunity and ambition to all. It is needed now more than ever as the government, and the adult learning sector look to support people at this critical time for jobs and the economy. \u201c <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe report looks specifically at the need for improved access to learning for those living in places in the UK which are bereft of traditional higher education opportunities. These are corners of the UK where demand for learning is high, yet people are poorly served by adult learning opportunities in HE, both at the traditional point and later in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Second chance learning” could have transformative impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It cites how the funding arrangements for study in the UK \u2013\nintroduced in 2012 – are strongly linked with a sharp decline\nin participation, and \u201cappear to have dissuaded debt-averse learners\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And its report identifies places in the UK where \u201csecond chance learning\u201d could have a transformative impact and yet was severely underutilised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
OU\nBSc Environmental Sciences student Victoria Alexander,<\/strong> 24, lives in one of the\nareas highlighted in the report, in the King\u2019s Lynn area of Norfolk. At 18 she stayed\nat home while friends went off to university. She was not sure what she wanted\nto do but still harboured a desire to gain a degree. She works in administration for an\nengineering company but wants to use her science degree when she finishes, to\npossibly go into teaching. <\/p>\n\n\n\nShe said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Open University allows me to study and continue the life I have where I live, I didn\u2019t want to move away. Plus, I can work at the same time. I can\u2019t think of any other university which would enable me to do this.<\/p>
\u201cIt offers such a flexible way of learning, but I do have to manage quite a lot between working full time and studying. I never thought I\u2019d study science but if I had had an enthusiastic teacher maybe I would have decided earlier.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In\nits report the CSJ gives an example of how The Open University\u2019s partnerships are\nhelping to harness local learning options thanks to its part-time distance\nlearning offer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kent\nCommunity Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) provides wide-ranging health\ncare, including in people\u2019s own homes, nursing homes, health clinics,\ncommunity hospitals, minor injury units and mobile units. The Open University\nhas been working with KCHFT to develop its workforce. The Registered Nurse\nDegree Apprenticeship and Nursing Associate Higher Apprenticeship both give the\ntrust tangible ways to grow their own talent, and KCHFT is currently supporting\nalmost 50 Registered Nurse and Nursing Associates through these programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr\nMercia Spare, KCHFT\u2019s Chief Nurse explains how these courses are helping the\ntrust to meet its workforce needs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\nare a number of challenges for developing the nursing workforce, especially\nacross Kent and Medway. Firstly, there’s a shortage of nurses available\nto come into the profession. The second is around the attractiveness of\nnursing and the routes in. Latterly they’ve been through academia which doesn’t\nsuit a lot of people in terms of going along that route. Then you’ve got local\ncompetition for services. Within Kent Medway, we have a number of healthcare\nproviders and all fishing from the same workforce pond. And then you have the\nretention piece, actually keeping people in.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nI\nthink the OU is an important partner because it gives us a flexibility that you\nwouldn’t have with another partner. Because it’s distance learning, it opens\ndoors to a range of people who would have been precluded from going through a\ntraditional university route. You can earn and learn, and I think that has been\nthe fundamental positive in how we’ve worked with The Open University to\naddress some of our workforce challenges.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nKerry,\na learner on the Nursing Associate Higher Apprenticeship, previously worked in\nthe catering sector and then had a family. She explains how the programme\u2019s\nflexibility helped her juggle her personal responsibilities and the role at the\nTrust:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing a mother, financially, going to university wouldn’t have been an option for childcare and financial reasons. The apprenticeship seemed the best way because I could learn and earn at the same time. The learning is very flexible for me. I can still go to work, come home, be with my children and spend the time that they need with me.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nThe\nreport calls for similar initiatives, referring to the OU and KCHFT\ncollaboration as \u201ca powerful conduit for skills development\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The CSJ argues that the coronavirus pandemic has made the problem even more apparent. A recent survey by the OU<\/a> supports this: the survey taken up among more than 2,000 adults taken between 28 April and 1 May, found a quarter (24%) of the UK workforce are learning new skills to mitigate against coronavirus uncertainty. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe results suggest that younger employees are\nparticularly fearful that their skills could become obsolete. Over a third\n(39%) of 18-34-year-olds agreed that they would put their own money towards\ndevelopment opportunities if it made them more employable.
\n
\nIn the foreword to the CSJ report Mr\nHalfon praises the work of The Open University, referring to it as one of the \u201cbastions of social justice that make\nlearning possible for many disadvantaged adults\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Open University welcomes a report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) which calls for better UK government support and improved access to adult learning to reboot the economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Long Game – How to reboot skills training for disadvantaged adults, published today (15 June 2020), highlights […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[1525,1640],"class_list":["post-15690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ou-speaks-out","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}