UK universities need rescue package to stop ‘domino effect’ of going under
-Experts say the next head of the Office for Students must oversee a programme that will protect higher education

英國(guó)大學(xué)需要救援計(jì)劃,以阻止破產(chǎn)的“多米諾效應(yīng)”
——專(zhuān)家表示,下一任學(xué)生辦公室負(fù)責(zé)人必須監(jiān)督一項(xiàng)保護(hù)高等教育的計(jì)劃


(Ex-Tory minister Chris Skidmore could head the Office for Students.)

(前保守黨大臣克里斯·斯基德莫爾可能領(lǐng)導(dǎo)學(xué)生辦公室。)
新聞:

The new head of the Office for Students (OfS) will have to oversee rescue plans to avoid a “domino effect” with a number of universities going under, experts have warned.

專(zhuān)家警告說(shuō),學(xué)生辦公室的新負(fù)責(zé)人將不得不監(jiān)督救援計(jì)劃,以避免許多大學(xué)破產(chǎn)的“多米諾骨牌效應(yīng)”。

The new government’s Department for Education (DfE) announced on Tuesday that it had accepted the resignation of the OfS’s controversial chair, James Wharton, a former Tory MP who ran Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign. Lord Wharton, who was given the job of running the independent regulator in 2021 despite having no experience of higher education, did not give up the Tory whip in the Lords and was widely criticised for being too close to the Conservative government.

新政府的教育部周二宣布,已經(jīng)接受了教育局備受爭(zhēng)議的主席詹姆斯·沃頓的辭呈。沃頓是前保守黨議員,曾負(fù)責(zé)鮑里斯·約翰遜的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)競(jìng)選。沃頓勛爵于2021年被任命為獨(dú)立監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)的負(fù)責(zé)人,盡管他沒(méi)有高等教育經(jīng)驗(yàn),但他沒(méi)有放棄保守黨在上議院的黨鞭職務(wù),并因與保守黨政府關(guān)系過(guò)于密切而受到廣泛批評(píng)。
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One of the most surprising names said to be on the list of possible contenders to replace Wharton is Chris Skidmore, the former Tory energy minister who resigned from the government in January and has been excoriating in recent public attacks on his former party.

據(jù)說(shuō)接替沃頓的可能競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者名單上最令人驚訝的名字之一是克里斯·斯基德莫爾,這位前保守黨能源大臣于今年1月從政府辭職,最近一直在公開(kāi)抨擊他的前政黨。

Skidmore was once the universities minister and is respected in the sector. Other names suggested to the Observer by a range of well-connected figures in higher education include David Bell, vice-chancellor of Sunderland University and a former DfE permanent secretary.

斯基德莫爾曾任大學(xué)大臣,在該領(lǐng)域頗受尊敬。一些在高等教育界人脈廣泛的人士向《觀察家報(bào)》推薦的其他人選還包括桑德蘭大學(xué)副校長(zhǎng)、前教育部常務(wù)秘書(shū)戴維·貝爾。

With 40% of universities projected to be in deficit, according to recent reports by both PricewaterhouseCoopers and the OfS, experts said this weekend there has never been a more crucial time to have a more effective and stronger regulator with clearer priorities. In 2023, a scathing report by the Lords industry and regulators committee criticised the OfS, which had intervened on Conservative pet causes, including free speech and “l(fā)ow value” courses, for being driven by the “ebb and flow of short-term political priorities and media headlines”. Prof Steve West, vice-chancellor of the University of the West of England, who stepped down from the OfS board when he served as president of Universities UK, said: “This is the OfS’s most critical moment. It has a very serious job to do protecting students and the reputation of UK higher education.”

根據(jù)普華永道和英國(guó)金融服務(wù)辦公室最近的報(bào)告,預(yù)計(jì)40%的大學(xué)將出現(xiàn)赤字。專(zhuān)家們本周末表示,現(xiàn)在是建立一個(gè)更有效、更強(qiáng)大、優(yōu)先事項(xiàng)更明確的監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)的關(guān)鍵時(shí)刻了。2023年,英國(guó)上議院產(chǎn)業(yè)和監(jiān)管委員會(huì)發(fā)布了一份措辭嚴(yán)厲的報(bào)告,批評(píng)學(xué)生辦公室受“短期政治優(yōu)先事項(xiàng)和媒體頭條的潮起潮落”驅(qū)動(dòng),對(duì)保守黨喜歡的事業(yè)(包括言論自由和“低價(jià)值”課程)進(jìn)行了干預(yù)。西英格蘭大學(xué)副校長(zhǎng)史蒂夫·韋斯特教授在擔(dān)任英國(guó)大學(xué)聯(lián)合會(huì)主席期間退出了學(xué)生辦公室董事會(huì),他說(shuō):“這是學(xué)生辦公室最關(guān)鍵的時(shí)刻。保護(hù)學(xué)生和英國(guó)高等教育的聲譽(yù)是一項(xiàng)非常嚴(yán)肅的工作?!?/b>

When West was on the board, he said discussions about how to protect students at universities that looked financially unstable were more manageable because they typically involved one or two universities. “The difference now is the sheer scale of what they are facing. If you’ve got a large number of institutions at risk and posting deficits, that is a far bigger systemic issue,” he said.

韋斯特說(shuō),當(dāng)他還是董事會(huì)成員時(shí),關(guān)于如何保護(hù)那些看起來(lái)財(cái)務(wù)不穩(wěn)定的大學(xué)學(xué)生的討論更容易管理,因?yàn)檫@些討論通常涉及一到兩所大學(xué)。“現(xiàn)在的不同之處在于他們所面臨的問(wèn)題的規(guī)模。如果有大量機(jī)構(gòu)面臨風(fēng)險(xiǎn)并出現(xiàn)赤字,那將是一個(gè)更大的系統(tǒng)性問(wèn)題。”
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More than 50 universities are making job and budget cuts in response to a drop-off in overseas students and a decade-long freeze in the £9,250 a year fees paid by UK students. The Russell Group has estimated that English universities lost an average of £2,500 a student a year in 2022-23 and without a change in policy this will increase to £5,000 a student a year by 2029-30.

英國(guó)50多所大學(xué)正在裁員和削減預(yù)算,以應(yīng)對(duì)海外學(xué)生數(shù)量的下降,以及被凍結(jié)了10年不漲的英國(guó)學(xué)生每年9250英鎊的學(xué)費(fèi)。羅素集團(tuán)估計(jì),在2022-23年期間,英國(guó)大學(xué)平均每年損失每個(gè)學(xué)生2500英鎊,如果不改變政策,到2029-30年,這一數(shù)字將增加到每年5000英鎊。

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute thinktank, said: “When this many universities are projected to be in deficit, you can’t say: ‘This is a market and some institutions will have to go,’ because there is a serious risk of a domino effect.”

智庫(kù)高等教育政策研究所主管尼克·希爾曼表示:“當(dāng)這么多大學(xué)預(yù)計(jì)將出現(xiàn)赤字時(shí),你不能說(shuō):‘這是一個(gè)市場(chǎng),一些機(jī)構(gòu)將不得不退出,’因?yàn)榇嬖诙嗝字Z骨牌效應(yīng)的嚴(yán)重風(fēng)險(xiǎn)?!?/b>

He warned that if one university went under, lenders would “start calling in their debts left right and centre”. Hillman added: “It was inevitable that Lord Wharton had to go. It was an extraordinary appointment for political reasons.”

他警告說(shuō),如果一所大學(xué)破產(chǎn),貸款機(jī)構(gòu)將“開(kāi)始收回他們的債務(wù)”。希爾曼補(bǔ)充說(shuō):“沃頓勛爵不得不離開(kāi)是不可避免的。出于政治原因,這是一次非同尋常的任命?!?/b>

Chris Millward, professor of practice in education policy at Birmingham University and former director for fair access at the OfS, said the regulator now had a key role to play in “not only forecasting risk but also managing it”.

伯明翰大學(xué)教育政策實(shí)踐教授、學(xué)生辦公室前公平準(zhǔn)入主管克里斯·米爾沃德表示,該監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)現(xiàn)在“不僅在預(yù)測(cè)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)方面,而且在管理風(fēng)險(xiǎn)方面”發(fā)揮著關(guān)鍵作用。

He added that although the OfS was supposed to protect the interests of students: “If a university goes bust, the implications will be much wider.”

他補(bǔ)充說(shuō),盡管學(xué)生辦公室本應(yīng)保護(hù)學(xué)生的利益,但“如果一所大學(xué)破產(chǎn),其影響將會(huì)廣泛得多。”

A spokesperson for the DfE said the process to appoint an interim chair was under way with a permanent replacement announced “in due course”. SheIt added: “It is important that we have a sustainable higher education funding system that provides opportunities, supports students and maintains the world-leading status of our universities.”

英國(guó)教育部的一位發(fā)言人表示,任命臨時(shí)主席的程序正在進(jìn)行中,“在適當(dāng)?shù)臅r(shí)候”將宣布永久替代人選。她補(bǔ)充說(shuō):“重要的是,我們要有一個(gè)可持續(xù)的高等教育資助體系,為學(xué)生提供機(jī)會(huì),支持學(xué)生,保持我們大學(xué)的世界領(lǐng)先地位。”