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DROPPING OUT AND MOVING ON

By James Cree ⋅ April 12, 2008 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

The news in recent weeks that Government efforts to curb the student drop-out rate is failing should not really come as much of a surprise. Nearly a quarter of students drop out of university despite the Government spending £800 million to try to solve the problem, a committee of MPs has said. The rate has not changed in five years, with 22 per cent of full-time students abandoning their degrees. Almost half of those studying part-time never graduate.

So why, despite all this money being spent, has it been such a failure? In my opinion, no matter how much money is spent on curbing the drop-out rate, little will change. What really needs to change is the government’s whole outlook towards Higher Education. The policy of achieving 50 percent of 18-20 year olds in university is doomed to fail. This has also been in the news with reports that UK student numbers are actually set to fall! When will they realise that university isn’t for everyone? The current drop-out rate is already proof of this without forcing more people to attend. The money spent curbing the student drop-out rate would be much better spent providing apprenticeships and training to really widen access to education and opportunity.