UK’s ‘preoccupation’ with ‘one-size fits all’ university education risks causing a ‘skills crisis’ says Tony Blair’s son Euan – a generation after his father’s famous bid to get HALF of youngsters to become students
- Euan Blair, 36, warns society is divided by a 30-year ‘obsession with university’
- He says graduates without any non-graduate friends should set off ‘alarm bells’
- This goes against Tony Blair’s pledge for 50% students to enter higher education
The UK’s ‘obsession’ with a ‘one size fits all’ university education could cause a ‘skills crisis’, says Tony Blair’s son.
Euan Blair claims society has become divided by this 30-year preoccupation with university, which he says can leave people without the necessary basic skills to be successful.
He warns that the increasing number of graduates who do not have any non-graduates in their circle of friends ‘should be setting off alarm bells’.
Tony Blair’s son Euan Blair (pictured) says the UK’s ‘obsession’ with a ‘one size fits’ all university education could cause a ‘skills crisis’, leaving people without the basic skills to be successful
He warned the increasing number of graduates who do not have non-graduate friends should set ‘off alarm bells’. Pictured, the University of Bristol, where Euan Blair studied ancient history
The co-founder and chief executive of apprenticeship-focused tech firm, WhiteHat, made the comments in a new essay collection, published by the Policy Exchange think tank.
This comes 21 years after his father Tony Blair pledged to get half of all young people to enter higher education, when he was the Labour prime minister.
In his essay, Mr Blair, 36, wrote: ‘One central objective of our education system is to ensure citizens have the skills they need to serve and thrive in the economy of the future.
‘But something is going badly wrong on that score in the UK. A skills crisis may be slow in the development but, as Hemingway once said of bankruptcy, it engulfs you “gradually, and then suddenly”.
‘Our stubbornly low level of productivity – that has resisted every policy solution the Treasury has thrown at it – is an indicator that we need to change course before it is too late.’
He said Britain’s ‘obsession with university’ has caused negative consequences, as he claims people’s educational level is now ‘the biggest division’ in society.
This comes 21 years after his father, Tony Blair, pledged for half of all young people to enter higher education when he was Labour prime minister
Mr Blair said: ‘The last thirty years might reasonably be characterised as a push for university education above all else.
‘Governments of every kind have contributed to policies that have seen the proportion of the population attending university reach record levels.
‘The aspirations of most university champions are beyond reproach: widen university study beyond a small section of society and you give more diverse groups access to top jobs and decision-making power.’
He added: ‘The obsession with university has had some unarguably negative consequences for social cohesion. In a divided society, educational level is now the biggest division of them all.
‘In the EU Referendum those with A Levels alone split equally between the two camps while those with degrees were twice as likely to vote Remain.
‘The fact that an increasing number of graduates do not have any non-graduates in their circle of friends should be setting off alarm bells.’
Tony Blair announced his target for 50 per cent of all young people to attend a university in a conference speech in 1999, two years after coming into office.
Tony Blair revealed his education target in a 1999 conference speech, two years after entering office (pictured, from left to right, with Euan Blair, Cherie Blair and Nicky Blair in 2005)
He said he wanted this goal to be achieved ‘in the next century’.
Figures from the Department for Education show this ambition was reached almost 20 years later.
In 2017-18, 50.2 per cent of people went into higher education – up from 49.9 per cent the previous year.
The DfE statistics were based on the proportion of people set to go to university before the age of 30.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson yesterday welcomed the Policy Exchange publication.
He said: ‘This report rightly highlights the critical importance of vocational education and apprenticeships to our economy.
‘The authors make a valuable contribution to the discussion on how to build a world-class further education system, and demonstrate that we must not hesitate to put further education at the heart of our plans to drive up the UK’s skills, productivity and economy.’