Scots get their voice

THES reporters turn the spotlight on the working groups set up so far by Sir Ron Dearing as part of his inquiry into the future of higher education. Dearing's Scottish committee has a radically different remit from the other groups, which have no power to make recommendations. The Scots, however, will both advise the main committee on their specific issues and also monitor the impact of the main committee's thinking on their education system. The Scottish committee is also likely to submit an interim report to the main committee early in 1997.

Sir Ron Dearing is himself on the 12-member committee, with Scot Sir William Stubbs his stand-in. The committee is chaired by businessman Sir Ron Garrick, chief executive of the engineering company The Weir Group.

It includes four women: Joan Stringer, assistant principal at the Robert Gordon University; Janet Lowe, principal of Lauder College, an expert on further education, which differs from the English sector in that it is funded directly by the Scottish Office; Ann Kettle, a senior lecturer at St Andrews University; and Zoe Heathcote, former president of the Edinburgh University Students Association.

Other members are John Arbuthnott, principal of Strathclyde University; Sir James Armour, chairman of Glasgow Dental Hospital and School NHS Trust; John McClelland, Digital Corporation vice president and visiting professor at Paisley University; Finnbar Moynihan, head of Holyrood Secondary School; David Piggot, chief executive of Edinburgh Healthcare NHS Trust; and Sir William Stewart, former chief scientific adviser to the Cabinet Office. It will concentrate on the distinctive aspects of Scottish education, such as the broad-based four year honours degree, and how this dovetails with the schools system, currently being reformed to bring academic and vocational qualifications more closely together.

It will hold its second meeting on September 16, and has invited background papers from, for example, the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council on funding, and the Scottish Office on higher education provision in further education institutions. It is also seeking detailed information on Scotcats, the innovative national credit accumulation and transfer scheme.

Glasgow University's principal, Sir Graeme Davies, will next month host a meeting for Scottish committee members to meet further and higher education principals and other invited guests.