At the risk of sounding like Witney Houston, the future of Wales and the rest of the UK can be found in school, Sixth Form, FE and University classrooms up and down the country. Nurturing talent is a long process and needs time, patience and, above all else, proper resources if it is to flourish. Occasionally a green shoot can be spotted in a desert, but most of the time anything that grows needs the right environment if it is to reach its full potential.
Thirty years ago, Britain suffered from an extraordinary attack. Before the Argentinian Junta even contemplated invading the Falklands, young British people were pounded mercilessly by vicious public spending cuts that damaged their primary and secondary education, closed their colleges and decimated their higher education funding. The result of this was the biggest waste of a generations talent ever seen in this country. Margaret Thatcher built a boom on sand, with financial traders and merchant bankers enjoying a champagne lifestyle. At the same time, our engineers, IT innovators and inventors had to either look elsewhere for work or cope with research and development budgets slashed to ribbons. The result of this was that innovative British companies like Acorn were starved of funding then subsequently dwarfed and swallowed up by giants such as IBM. Fast forward to today and we face the same situation again. Either David Cameron is determined to take up Thatcher's unfinished business, or it is an act of class warfare by the Old Etonians, trying to prevent as many working class children from getting on as possible.
As our focus shifts once more from domestic policy to military action in the Middle East, we are reminded that, whatever one may think of Tony Blair's intervention in Iraq, we can also remember that he presided over the largest increase in University places on record. Comprehensively educated young people at last had a real chance of going on to earn a degree rather than find themselves at the back of a queue made up predominantly of privately educated pupils. One of the reasons the staying on rate increased so dramatically was EMA, the Educational Maintenance Allowance. No longer did young people have to give up their hopes and aspirations in order to bring a few vital extra pounds into the household. At last, they could afford to study safe in the knowledge that were able to afford their bus fares, lunches and stationary.
Now EMA is to be no more. This ConDem government clearly believes that 16 to 18 year olds are to blame for the country's economic ills and have punished them by removing their meagre allowance. As for those University students, they are even more to blame - triple their fees and make sure they finish their degree £45,000 in debt.
Naturally, Monmouth's M.P. David Davies is more than happy about this. He has stated, on at least two occasions, that too many people are going to University, insinuating that current students study 'Mickey Mouse' courses and having an 'easy life'. If such ignorant and misleading remarks are typical of Monmouth's Conservatives, no wonder voters are moving away from them in their droves.
Of course students do not have an easy life and it is incredibly crass and out of touch to suggest otherwise. University life is different now. Modern students are acutely aware of the need to compete in the job market and are far more switched on about life than students of previous eras. That is why pass rates have soared and drop-out rates have fallen in recent years. Students know what is important for them. They need bone headed remarks like those of Mr Davies like they need - well, like they need a £45,000 debt.
Going back to my Witney-esque thoughts at the beginning, I will admit to being slightly confused about one thing. We are constantly told that Bankers bonuses are justified because if they were not paid them, they would go off and work elsewhere. But surely, if we want the best young brains to work in this country, the same logic should apply? Obviously not. The best Dentists, Chemists, Writers, Designers, Planners and Economists will all have to pay more and more rather than enjoy fat cat rewards. Perhaps the logic is that, by the time they graduate, they will barely be able to afford a tank of petrol, let alone a ticket to leave the country.
Thirty years ago, Britain suffered from an extraordinary attack. Before the Argentinian Junta even contemplated invading the Falklands, young British people were pounded mercilessly by vicious public spending cuts that damaged their primary and secondary education, closed their colleges and decimated their higher education funding. The result of this was the biggest waste of a generations talent ever seen in this country. Margaret Thatcher built a boom on sand, with financial traders and merchant bankers enjoying a champagne lifestyle. At the same time, our engineers, IT innovators and inventors had to either look elsewhere for work or cope with research and development budgets slashed to ribbons. The result of this was that innovative British companies like Acorn were starved of funding then subsequently dwarfed and swallowed up by giants such as IBM. Fast forward to today and we face the same situation again. Either David Cameron is determined to take up Thatcher's unfinished business, or it is an act of class warfare by the Old Etonians, trying to prevent as many working class children from getting on as possible.
As our focus shifts once more from domestic policy to military action in the Middle East, we are reminded that, whatever one may think of Tony Blair's intervention in Iraq, we can also remember that he presided over the largest increase in University places on record. Comprehensively educated young people at last had a real chance of going on to earn a degree rather than find themselves at the back of a queue made up predominantly of privately educated pupils. One of the reasons the staying on rate increased so dramatically was EMA, the Educational Maintenance Allowance. No longer did young people have to give up their hopes and aspirations in order to bring a few vital extra pounds into the household. At last, they could afford to study safe in the knowledge that were able to afford their bus fares, lunches and stationary.
Now EMA is to be no more. This ConDem government clearly believes that 16 to 18 year olds are to blame for the country's economic ills and have punished them by removing their meagre allowance. As for those University students, they are even more to blame - triple their fees and make sure they finish their degree £45,000 in debt.
Naturally, Monmouth's M.P. David Davies is more than happy about this. He has stated, on at least two occasions, that too many people are going to University, insinuating that current students study 'Mickey Mouse' courses and having an 'easy life'. If such ignorant and misleading remarks are typical of Monmouth's Conservatives, no wonder voters are moving away from them in their droves.
Of course students do not have an easy life and it is incredibly crass and out of touch to suggest otherwise. University life is different now. Modern students are acutely aware of the need to compete in the job market and are far more switched on about life than students of previous eras. That is why pass rates have soared and drop-out rates have fallen in recent years. Students know what is important for them. They need bone headed remarks like those of Mr Davies like they need - well, like they need a £45,000 debt.
Going back to my Witney-esque thoughts at the beginning, I will admit to being slightly confused about one thing. We are constantly told that Bankers bonuses are justified because if they were not paid them, they would go off and work elsewhere. But surely, if we want the best young brains to work in this country, the same logic should apply? Obviously not. The best Dentists, Chemists, Writers, Designers, Planners and Economists will all have to pay more and more rather than enjoy fat cat rewards. Perhaps the logic is that, by the time they graduate, they will barely be able to afford a tank of petrol, let alone a ticket to leave the country.
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