Our place to talk – an independent website for supporters of the Liberal Democrat party in the UK.

The most-read independent website by and for Lib Dem supporters. Not paid for by trade unions or millionaires.

Advert

Tag Archives: polytechnics

Post-18 education – a chance for the Lib Dems to make a real impact?

By John Marriott | Tue 14th July 2020 - 1:02 pm

Embed from Getty Images
The Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson MP, has recently placed the Blair philosophy of ‘further education’ in doubt by saying that we are sending too many young people to ‘university’. You might say that this isn’t that surprising coming from a Tory, albeit one who was educated in a state comprehensive school.

However, quite a few people have been thinking this for years and some, like me, have been prepared to say it out loud. Does that make us bad people? Have we perhaps lost our way as a nation when it comes to equipping our young people with the knowledge and skills not only to make a success of their lives but also to make a valuable contribution to our nation’s future economic success?

We can’t keep relying on other countries to provide us with qualified people, whether they be doctors, nurses, scientists, teachers and engineers or bricklayers, plumbers and joiners. We have got to start producing more of our own home-grown material and not expect other countries to provide us with the qualified people we undoubtedly need. The same also surely applies in this uncertain age to manufactured goods.

Continue reading »

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged comprehensive schools, higher education, secondary modern schools and university | 23 Comments

Most Read

Op-eds

Britain has too much government and too little democratic power (James Dennison)
Foreign interference in British politics: How the Liberal Democrats man meet the challenge (Larry Ngan)
Mathew on Monday: It’s time to take big money out of British politics (Mathew Hulbert)
The liberalism we need: a platform for people to thrive and live their version of a best life (Josh Matthews)
Tom Arms’ World Review (Tom Arms)

Advert

Recent Comments

James Dennison
Thanks David. I certainly didn't mean to imply that the UK begins and ends with England — rather, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland already have substantia...
James Dennison
Thanks Jana. My instinct would be to approach this from the other direction: rather than create a new English Parliament to exercise the powers currently exerci...
Jana
“ Give England institutional expression” Just ‘institutional expression’? Unless it is viewed as acceptable that criminal laws in England, for exampl...
David Raw
Professor Dennison write, "England does not need another large parliament or bureaucracy"..................... and goes on continually refer to England. Writ...
Jana
We don’t need a cap on donations - we need a cap on total spending by each political party, both on routine running costs each year and on specific election c...