Higher Education - Past, Present & Future with Sir Michael Barber, Lord Blunkett, Shakira Martin and Harry Anderson
On Thursday 4 October we were delighted to welcome to the University,
Sir Michael Barber, Chair at the Office of Students, to talk about
higher education – past, present and future. Sir Michael spoke about
H.A.L Fisher and the 1918 Education Act, 2018 marked 100 years since the
act was established. Sir Michael discussed the main features of the Act
and how far the system has come along since 1918, he stated ‘we’ve
learnt a lot from Fisher, that legislation is not enough, we need to
invest’. Sir Michael’s outlook was overall very positive, complimenting
universities as places that stand for truth - they have moved away from
being an elite system to a mass system, without losing equality.
Sir Michael was later joined by Shakira Martin, President at NUS,
Harry Anderson, Policy Advisor at CBI and the Rt Hon the Lord Blunkett
for a panel debate and discussion on higher education, chaired by
Professor Marie Kinsey from the Department of Journalism Studies.
Questions were taken from the audience, exploring themes such as the
biggest challenges to higher education, teaching excellence and the
value and quality of degrees.
The evening was closed by Professor Wyn Morgan, who stressed the
challenges and opportunities that higher education faces at the moment.
He praised the panel for offering their views and sharing their passion.