The Grand Tour in search of ideas

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. Geoff Maslen caught up with Sir Ron during his visit to Australia. 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. Geoff Maslen caught up with Sir Ron during his visit to Australia

As chairman of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, Sir Ron Dearing visited Australia last month. He was looking closely at Australia's Higher Education Contribution Scheme, a deferred graduate tax system, and the loans scheme adopted by the New Zealand government.

It is debatable whether he has found the answer to one of the key questions his inquiry is seeking to answer: how much the state should contribute to an individual's education? He is, however, talking of "hybrid" institutions covering both further and higher education.

Neither the Australian nor the New Zealand scheme gives an early return on government outlays. A tuition loans scheme, backed by private industry, would overcome that. The new conservative coalition government in Australia, however, has announced changes to the HECS system that will considerably speed up graduate repayments.

Sir Ron refused to comment on whether tuition fees should be introduced in the United Kingdom but did say that the contribution borne by the state in the UK is higher than in almost any other country. He would also not comment on whether putting a cap on university enrolments was advisable. His committee's terms of reference envisaged a continuing expansion of higher education and there was a general presumption that this would occur, he said.

"My committee has decided, however, that before we start talking about funding higher education, we should start discussing what it is we want to fund. On that basis, there are no sacred cows; we have to be willing to explore all possibilities otherwise we are not doing our job properly."

This was Sir Ron's second trip abroad as head of the national committee. He had already been to Japan and New Zealand before Australia. These are part of a series of visits to foreign countries he and other committee members will be making over the next few months.

More than 30 years ago, the Robbins committee visited eight countries and Sir Ron thinks his team should do the same. He said France, Germany and Sweden would be among the European nations worth visiting and he hoped to look at higher eduction in another Asian nation such as Malaysia. China has already invited him there.

Preparing a report on what higher education should be like in 20 years' time meant thinking about a world in which Europe would be in competition with the giant nations of China and India.

Given that prospect, Sir Ron declared: "There is only one way to go and that is upmarket - with a well-educated and well-trained workforce. What may differentiate the less successful nations from the successful ones is the effectiveness and quality of their education systems, including higher education."

A decision by the former Australian Labor government to call for a report into university management was "absolutely right", Sir Ron said. "If you want to be effective, you start at the top by looking at the system of governance. So we have put that issue on our agenda and I was delighted to get a copy of the Australian report which I will study closely."

Sir Ron is believed to have said at a dinner party, hosted by Australian education minister Amanda Vanstone, that he wanted "to breach the wall between higher education and further education". He told The THES that the relationship between the two sectors was already developing and he expected further connections.

"I think the barriers will become less clear and there will be greater diversity, with some universities having a high commitment to research and others that will become what might be called 'hybrid' institutions covering higher and further education."

He was a great admirer of the way university staff had coped with the demands as the higher education system doubled in size in the seven years. Now, with staff facing redundancy, there was a question of falling morale and it was "in all our interests that we give university staff confidence in their future".