New Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable has called on colleges to ensure that they listen to the voices of their students.
In an exclusive interview with Tes, the recently re-elected MP - confirmed as Lib Dem leader yesterday - said he has been “taking forward” the FE agenda since he lost his Twickenham seat in 2015.
And he added that it was important to listen to students as well as college leaders.
In 2014, Sir Vince claimed to have effectively stopped the FE sector from being axed during his stint as business secretary. But, during his time away from the Palace of Westminster, FE has assumed an even greater importance in Sir Vince’s life.
“It was obviously traumatic to lose my seat,” he said. “But I adapted quite quickly; I suppose I’m fairly resilient. I found other interesting things to do. I got involved in the FE sector, actually.
“I became a governor of my local adult college [Richmond Adult Community College], became a life fellow at City Lit. I did the Workers’ Educational Association annual lecture, so I was really interested in taking forward that bit of the agenda... I did lots of interesting things, so I do come back refreshed with lots of ideas and experiences I wouldn’t have had if I’d been in Parliament all the time.”
Students’ champion
Top of the list was Cable agreeing to lead a research project for the NUS students’ union, which was launched in November 2016, with the final report due to be published this autumn. Students Shaping Further Education will focus on the needs of students attending FE providers across the country. It has involved a series of visits and events across England, and will result in recommendations that the NUS says will “benefit students, communities and the economy”.
The project also sparked an unlikely friendship between Cable and Shakira Martin, the union’s outspoken former vice-president for FE, who in April was elected as the union’s president. Despite the gap in age and background, the pair hit it off straight way.
“I enjoyed working with the NUS and I enjoyed working with her,” Cable says. “She’s a wonderful character and a great role model, actually. We did some joint visits. It gave us a real insight into FE colleges and their challenges, which are of course completely different from universities’. We were hoping to produce a report this summer.
“It was very therapeutic. I am a fan of the Association of Colleges - I think they’re great - and I enjoy dealing with college principals. But when you’re actually out in the field, you realise, from the point of view of the students, these are remote senior managers whose interest is not necessarily aligned with theirs. I think it was important to get that perspective.
“I think the more-enlightened colleges do understand the importance of a student vote, having student representation. I came across some very good models. At the end of the day, the management is concerned with balancing the books and the students are concerned with their life chances.”
This is an edited version of an article in the 21 July edition of Tes. Subscribers can read the full story here. To subscribe, click here. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here. Tes magazine is available at all good newsagents.
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