Six years ago, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction released a report which drew stark conclusions about the unequal impact of disasters. It said: “Poverty is both a driver and consequence of disasters, and the processes that further disaster risk-related poverty are permeated with inequality. Socioeconomic inequality is likely to continue to increase and, with it, disaster risk for those countries, communities, households and businesses that have only limited opportunities to manage their risks and strengthen their resilience.”

The report was focused on climate disaster, but the implications for the current pandemic and its aftermath are identical.

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If you are disadvantaged economically, socially, educationally or by prejudice against your ethnicity, orientation or religion, the odds are very much that your degree of disadvantage is going to be greater than before by the time we “return to normal”.

Education policy decisions don’t take FE colleges into account

One of further education’s most important roles in society is to offer the opportunity for people to reduce their disadvantage using education as the pathway. “Transforming lives through learning” is the central tenet around which everything at Milton Keynes College is moulded. However, even in education, there are inbuilt inequalities that hold back the life chances of so many. These inequalities are not deliberate but are primarily the result of unconscious bias.

I was intrigued by the appearance of the hashtag #AndColleges recently on Twitter. It came about as a response to government announcements about the changes to the opening and closing of educational institutions and the taking or cancellation of exams. Time and again, schools were focused upon but there was no mention of colleges until the question was asked: “Does this apply to us, too?”

The Association of Colleges has done an excellent job highlighting this with its #AndColleges series of podcasts. But talking about the symptoms of the problem is one thing; what are the causes?

Simply put, there are not enough people involved in the decision-making processes around education who have a first-hand knowledge and understanding of what colleges do. If there were people around the table making those decisions with an #AndColleges mindset, the things said would be far better informed. 

The AoC deserves great credit for the way in which it has fought the good fight to raise awareness of colleges in high and influential places. Things really are not as bad as they used to be. The fear is that, as with the UN report, the steady improvement in the visibility and recognition of colleges will be knocked back once more when we start to open up again. The Jobs for Skills White Paper was positive in so many ways, but elements, including the delay until 2025 of the implementation of the lifelong learning loan, will create significant drag. A post-Covid world of mass unemployment will need the hope that the chance of retraining brings on a massive scale. The tendency to focus on young people already inside the education system is understandable, but it neglects the fact that millions who are part of the world of work now will be in desperate need of a new direction immediately if economic disaster is to be averted.

In Milton Keynes, we get a great deal of support from our local MPs, who consistently lobby on our behalf, and all college leaders should be utilising their representatives and making sure they fully understand what’s at stake. But the very top table is still lacking in that knowledge and experience of the sector, and, while that is the case, they will always misunderstand or underestimate its value and requirements for success.

On a local level, we can help to improve the situation by doing what we do best - forging the closest possible links with employers. This is where the Institutes of Technology have a pivotal part to play. Where many will question the validity and reliability of the examination process because of pandemic disruption, employers will gain confidence by being part of the assessment process. While we can lobby and attempt to persuade ministers of our value, we will make greater progress through those local relationships on which we pride ourselves.

Dr Julie Mills is chief executive and group principal at Milton Keynes College