Developing A Universal Education & Skills Landscape - The Key Challenge In Preparation For Tomorrow's Economy

. As the 2009/2010 university term kicks off in earnest, the ongoing recession is reported to have made our campuses more diverse than ever before, with an increasing number of older learners returning to the classroom in an attempt to add more skills to their respective CVs - and to become more employable for when the job market turns.

Additionally, the latest word from the UK Government regarding higher education has come from Peter Mandelson, the secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, and his calling to ‘cut out overlapping bureaucracy and duplicated programmes' in a UK-wide review of higher education research and funding bodies. Yet, despite Mr Mandelson's clearly noble intentions, All responses to this ‘review' have not been positive, with Phil Willis of the Liberal Democrats calling for a focus on ‘a universal education and skills landscape' instead of simply eliminating so-called ‘Quangos'.

So what exactly does Willis mean here when he talks of ‘a universal education and skills landscape'? With the recession causing more and more adults to embark on training and distance learning courses, or to take a break from employment altogether, the next few years are likely to make UK universities far more mixed in terms of the ages of those enrolling - the bigger picture is that our institutions need to be as accessible for people of all ages, and not simply for those who have just received their A-Levels.

Of course, this is more than simply ensuring that the correct teaching resources are in place, to ensure that those who haven't set foot in a classroom for twenty years are as up to speed with modern day learning as younger students. It will also be important for courses to be more flexible, with more part-time and online based learning to be offered to suit those with busier family and work orientated lifestyles.

Yet, this is only really the beginning. The notion of better integration on a UK level (between adult education centres, colleges, schools and universities) is ongoing and will seek to make the best use of facilities - but the integration on an international level offered by e-Learning technologies is also something that needs to be pushed. Yet, aside from the ‘learning' bit of preparation for tomorrow's economy, we also need to look at the university as a social environment, and to ask the question: is this uni bar/library/cafeteria as desirable for a 50 year old as it is for an 18 year old?

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