Whatever happened to the Dearing report?
06 February 2007
Professor Sir David Watson will examine the legacy of the Dearing report on higher education in a lecture at the Institute of Education tonight. Called "Whatever happened to the Dearing Report?" it will look at what has been taken up and what hasn't; what has worked and what has not.
The Dearing committee, of which Professor Watson was a member, was set up in 1996 to make recommendations on the nature higher education over the next 20 years. The committee presented its 2,000+ page report (including appendices) in June 1997.
Professor Watson will show how "expectations of a 'compact' between higher education and the state have foundered on a reef of political cynicism and academic unrealism". He will examine issues including widening participation ("stalled"), student fees ("the Achilles heel of New Labour policy for higher education") and lack of public funding of higher education compared with other countries ("the bottom third of the OECD league").
He will call for more collaboration between universities and a slowing of initiatives:
"What I would like the politicians and the institutions to do today is to relax; to recognise what is unfinished business … to invest sufficiently to stabilise what is a very promising sector, so that it can restore its collaborative gene and do good work."
The lecture takes place at 6pm this evening, Tuesday 6 March 2007, at the Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL.
Notes for editors
Further information from Helen Green, press officer, +44 (0)20 7612 6459, h.green@ioe.ac.uk
Whatever Happened to the Dearing Report? is published by the Institute of Education, priced £5.00, and available from hammicks@ioe.ac.uk, +44 (0)20 7612 6050, or order online at intranet.ioead/publications.
Sir David Watson is professor of higher education management in the School of Lifelong Education and International Development at the Institute of Education.
The Institute of Education is a college of the University of London, specialising in teaching, research and consultancy in education and related areas of social science and professional practice.