What is FE looking for from the next Government?
The team at Research Podcasts is delighted to have helped the Skills and Education Group produce a new series of its Let’s Go Further podcast which seeks to challenge our thinking on skills and education.
Building on the success of series 1 – 3 and with a General Election on the horizon, series 4 is shining a spotlight on the FE and skills policy issues that could and should feature in the manifestos of the main political parties.
From apprenticeships to the role of FE in a green economy, the skills gap and the brave new world of Artificial Intelligence, this series of the podcast gets the inside track from a range of leading skills and education experts what issues could and should take centre stage at the forthcoming election.
A particularly exciting development for this series is that it’s being produced in collaboration with FE Week. Editor, Shane Chowen, guest presents this series, contributing a wealth of sector experience and insight to conversations about the key issues affecting the FE sector, its learners, businesses and the wider economy.
Shifting from rhetoric to action
Launched today, episode 1, FE: how do we shift from rhetoric to action? sets the scene for the series by discussing the big issues facing the further education sector right now.
Shane is joined by Baroness Alison Wolf, a crossbench member of the House of Lords and a former skills policy advisor to Number 10 Downing Street, and Sir Michael Barber, who was until recently an advisor at the Department for Education and the Treasury on skills policy delivery.
Their discussion covers funding, apprenticeship reform and levy, and the role of employers. Sir Michael comments on how failure to see skills as a crucial element of economic growth is a problem:
“The evidence that skills, making sure people in the right places have the right skills to do the jobs of the future is fundamental to economic growth needs to be spelled out and made again and again…”
He also warns against the skills system assuming victim status:
“They say ‘what’s the government going to do about it?’ – and kind of wait rather than say, there’s a problem, this is what we’re going to do about it…….there needs to be a sense of momentum and not being a victim, being a change agent.”
Baroness Wolf is critical of the Mayoral Combined Authorities, using the episode to call on them to do more for the sector:
“I really think the mayors need to step up a bit. Actually quite a lot of the money is already devolved to the Mayoral Combined Authorities, and what has been to me very depressing is how little they’ve actually done to take advantage of their new freedoms.”
Subscribe now to listen to Series 4 first to find out what the big issues are facing the FE sector.
Research Podcasts team
The Let’s Go Further Podcast is produced by the Skills and Education Group in collaboration with Research Podcasts and is published fortnightly.
It is Executive Produced by Research Podcasts’ Chris Garrington. Catherine McDonald is the Series Producer and Krissie Brighty-Glover supports the Skills and Education Group team on marketing and promotion of the series.
Research Podcasts offer podcast consultancy, production and training for researchers and academics. If you have an idea, we can make it a reality.
Chris Garrington, Managing Director