Tony Blair will call for a dramatic increase in the proportion of young people advancing in higher education (HE) over the next two decades to tackle the country’s productivity crisis.
In a report due later this week, the former prime minister will recommend that up to 70% of young people enter higher education by 2040, potentially boosting economic growth by nearly 5% over the next generation.
Mr Blair’s proposal, which is based on the 50% target he set when he was in government, is a challenge for the current administration, which the report notes seems increasingly “skeptical” about the value of higher education.
“Far from reaching the top level, as some in the government say, we will need many more workers with skills acquired in higher education,” the report said. “We must therefore embark on a multi-parliamentary initiative to significantly increase educational attainment with a view to the skills our workforce will need not today but in 20 or 30 years.
According to Blair’s proposal, the goal should be to increase the share of higher education to 60% by 2030 and 70% by 2040, in line with other high-innovation economies around the world.
The target applies to people under the age of 30 who are advancing in higher education, not just school leavers who go to university. Universities are providers of higher education, but higher education is also provided in other institutions, including colleges of further education.
The plans are backed by Joe Johnson, a former higher education minister and brother of the prime minister. In the foreword to the report, which was published in the Times on Monday and published by the Tony Blair Institute, he said: “We still do not have enough highly qualified people to take a lot of vacancies today.
Lord Johnson added: “As we continue to grow as a knowledge economy, more jobs will be created in sectors that employ disproportionately graduates. Highly innovative economies, such as South Korea, Japan and Canada, understand this and have strengthened higher education; the participation rate in these countries is now between 60% and 70%. We cannot afford politics to remain immersed in today’s challenges alone, and our ambition must be to join them. “
The government is considering reintroducing controls on the number of students in England, potentially linked to the income of graduates, as well as creating minimum requirements for entering university courses. However, Blair’s report will warn that shrinking HE’s involvement “will leave Britons unprepared for the economy of the future”.
In 1999, Blair promised that 50% of young people would go to HE “in the next century”. This goal was on the way in 2017, when half of young people are likely to participate in HE for the first time by the age of 30, and Blair’s goal included those studying for professional qualifications, such as higher diplomas.
Nick Hillman, director of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, welcomed the intervention of the former prime minister. “I think Tony Blair is right about that. We have already reached its old target of 50% and obviously now we have to go further, given that we are behind other countries and employers are paying for highly qualified people. “
A spokesman for the Ministry of Education said: “Our universities play an important role in our education system, but this time it is not always in the best interests of the individual or the nation.
“The Minister of Education is clear about his vision for a system of high quality skills that meets the needs of employers and our economy, while ensuring that we have high quality professional and technical opportunities that are as prestigious and rewarding as academic routes. .
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