Yesterday in the Culture and Education Committee we held a hearing called “Europe’s Universities – Responses and Challenges” which focussed on how best Universities can equip young people with the skills the need to get good jobs once they graduate. We had four speakers come to give presentations to the committee who were all very interesting, especially Florian Kaiser, who spoke from the perspective of students.
I was struck by several things that were discussed during the hearing. Professor Sir Howard Newby gave a very interesting presentation about the importance of higher education (HE). He claimed that the in the UK, the HE sector’s economic output was over ₤59 billion a year and universities generate 2.3% of UK GDP. These statistics are similar across a number of other European countries and highlight just how important HE is to the EU. Not only are universities equipping the next generation with the skills they need but also increasingly becoming a cornerstone of economies across Europe.
But the mood amongst many is that Universities need to be doing more to give students practical skills that equip them for the world of work. Personally, I found myself agreeing with Sir Howard, who stressed the point that Universities were at their most effective when they had a larger degree of autonomy, but I did find suggestions of a new university ranking on the basis of graduate employability very interesting. I think that the EU is already doing quite a lot to make University more attractive, with the Bologna Process bringing higher education institutions and qualifications across Europe more in line, whilst providing opportunities for students to spend years abroad with schemes like Erasmus and Leonardo.
I did think, however, that Universities could be encouraged to offer more options for students to learn other languages, even if their specific course isn’t a language course. This will mean that the job market open to them will be dramatically expanded and will more generally expand their horizons. At a time when youth unemployment is a serious concern, both these objectives should be at the forefront of our minds when considering higher education.
