Universities Minister, Jo Johnson has warned that many universities have let the quality of teaching slip in favour of concentrating on research.
Mr Johnson was speaking with a group of university chiefs when he asserted that while some academics “go the extra mile” many had adopted what he called a “disengagement contract,” making teaching the “poor cousin” to research.
This “highly variable” level of teaching across universities was due to the fact that too many institutions saw “scholarly output” as being the foundation for a university’s reputation, according to Mr Johnson.
“Teaching has regrettably been allowed to become something of a poor cousin to research in parts of our system,” he said. “I hear this when I talk to worried parents, such as the physics teacher whose son dropped out at the start of year two of a humanities programme at a prestigious London university, having barely set eyes on his tutor.”
Mr. Johnson continued, “Her other son, by contrast, studying engineering at Bristol, saw the system at its best: he was worked off his feet, with plenty of support and mostly excellent teaching. This patchiness in the student experience within and between institutions cannot continue. There is extraordinary teaching that deserves greater recognition. And there is lamentable teaching that must be driven out of our system.”
Of course, the level of teaching and engagement at university is more important than ever before as students are paying up to £9,000 per year in fees, and surely deserve a good level of teaching in return.
Explaining his notion of a “disengagement contract,” Mr. Johnson said, “This goes along the lines of: ‘I don’t want to have to set and mark much by way of essays and assignments which would be a distraction from my research, and you don’t want to do coursework that would distract you from partying. So we’ll award you the degree as the hoped-for job ticket in return for compliance with minimal academic requirements and due receipt of fees.'”
This appeared to hint that many people were almost buying their degrees with their fees, so long as they stayed out of the way and were not a nuisance to the university lecturers, who would rather be doing research than teaching.
By way of reply, the president of Universities UK, Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow said that universities needed strong support from the government, saying, “Teaching excellence can only be delivered with stable and sustainable funding.” She continued, “This is essential to allow universities to continue to deliver a high-quality learning experience for students,” adding, “Remember, our graduates are our teachers, our doctors, our engineers, innovators and wealth creators