Scotland must not get left behind again as England ponders new revolution in education

Inventor Sir James Dyson, founder of Dyson, takes to the stage in Paris last month to unveil the new Dyson CameraJet toothbrush. Picture: Doug Peters Media Assignments | PA

With Scotland’s colleges having experienced a 20 per cent real-terms cut in funding over the past five years and its universities experiencing “an acute and growing financial crisis”, according to the author of a recent report, the last thing SNP ministers might want to hear is a call to build more of them.

However, a new paper by the Policy Exchange think tank suggests the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) in Hereford is an archetypal institution that, if replicated elsewhere, could help reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training, and provide employers with the skilled workforces they need.

The report warned too many students had been acquiring qualifications of “limited economic value”, as graduates who now deliver pizza will know. What makes NMITE different is that it offers employer-focussed engineering courses over two years – with a nine-to-five working week that mirrors the reality of most jobs and means students need to spend less time in education.

READ MORE: Scottish universities' £200 million funding gap shows why SNP must face reality about free tuition fees

‘Serious re-industrialisation of Britain’

Byron Evans, co-author of the report, said the higher education system was “beginning to buckle, contributing to regional, social and economic ills”, whereas NMITE-type universities would help support “the crucial bedrock of technical skills required for any serious re-industrialisation of Britain”.

Inventor James Dyson, who endorsed the report, said the UK was not producing enough engineers. “Only about one in 11 British graduates studied engineering or related subjects. Without them, we can’t make things, invent new products and technologies – or compete against the rest of the world. Britain needs many more places like these.”

The think tank suggested the UK government should put £50 million towards the creation of ten more NMITE-type institutions south of the Border. Given Scotland’s young generation experience many of the same problems as their counterparts in England, the SNP government may wish to consider doing something similar here.

Following no-nonsense reforms under the Conservatives, England’s schools have been performing significantly better than Scotland’s. Now it seems a similarly pragmatic revolution in further and higher education may be afoot. John Swinney and co need to be alive to the changes and make sure Scotland is not left behind.