Key courses to be protected

Education and Skills Secretary, Charles Clarke has sent the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) a list of courses the government considers to be of national importance and asked them if he needs to act to stop universities dropping them from the syllabus.

Courses covered include

• Arabic and Turkish language studies and other Middle Eastern area studies, former Soviet Union Caucasus and central Asian area studies - this is mainly for strategic security and inter-cultural awareness reasons, as highlighted by the recent British Society for Middle East Studies Report;
• Japanese, Chinese, Mandarin and other far eastern languages and area studies - for business and trade purposes, as highlighted by, among others, the UK-Japan 21st Century Group;
• Science, technology, engineering and mathematics - chiefly for maintaining the UK's excellent science base and ensuring our national productivity;
• Vocationally oriented courses of particular interest to employers in industries that are of growing importance to the UK economy; for example, the cultural and creative industries, and e-skills; and
• Courses relating to recent EU accession countries, especially those in Eastern Europe and the Baltic.

Charles Clarke said:

The move is an attempt to ensure that the UK does not face a future shortage of graduates qualified in the subjects the UK will need to enable the UK economy and society to thrive.

The list includes minority languages, science, technology, engineering, maths and vocationally-oriented courses of particular interest to employers in areas of growing importance to the UK economy

Mr. Clarke has also asked the HEFCE for advice on how more research collaboration can be encouraged, how Institutions can get more involved in regional skills strategies, and to think about alternatives to the traditional three years honours degree model, and moving towards a national credit framework.

"Higher Education Institutions are autonomous bodies, who cannot be forced to keep courses open, or to offer courses of a particular length or type. However, as a strategic body, HEFCE is perfectly placed, to advise on what encouragement and incentives could be introduced to meet the government’s key objectives. Mr. Clarke said he is not looking for a new set of policy initiatives nor a bid for extra funds. He has just passed a very wide ranging Bill which set the tone for the next decade and provided for a generous funding settlement which will put the sector on a more sound financial footing. This is about working with the resources we already have.

 

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