Will this panel of experts really be radical enough?

VER the past 12 months, this column has consistently highlighted the challenges facing tertiary education in Wales.

- By Dr Edward Thomas Jones, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Albert Gubay Business School, Bangor University

As we all know by now, universities are facing the most severe financial pressures in their history, further education colleges are trying to keep pace with rising costs on static budgets, and the wider skills ecosystem is struggling to meet the needs of a changing economy.

In addition, employers are reporting persistent shortages, productivity is still stubbornly low, and young people face a future in which access to high-quality education and training has never been more essential.

Against this backdrop, the Welsh Government has finally announced a new Ministerial Advisory Group to address the challenges facing the sector and while it is to be welcomed, the question is whether this body, commissioned after the proverbial horse has already done a runner, can deliver the transformation that Wales now urgently needs.

Unfortunately, a closer look at the panel already raises doubts as to whether it will report any meaningful changes, with almost all its members deeply embedded in the very institutions and structures that have done little to address the crisis facing the sector.

These include the chair and chief executive of Medr ~ the body responsible for overseeing tertiary education in Wales - as well as representatives from Universities Wales, Colegau Cymru, the main education unions and, disappointedly, only a single academic from outside Wales.

Yes, these are experienced individuals, but they are overwhelmingly from within the existing system and the absence of independent reformers, employers, innovators and international experts is striking.

‘As we all know, when a system dominated by internal interests is asked to examine itself, the result is rarely radical reform.