Nobody ever does something for nothing.
Well I seriously doubt that that statement is totally true as people who REALLY do something for nothing don't go around shouting about it. They just get on with their lives.
With that said just what made the the two colleges and the University decide to sponsor an Academy?
Well I seriously doubt that that statement is totally true as people who REALLY do something for nothing don't go around shouting about it. They just get on with their lives.
With that said just what made the the two colleges and the University decide to sponsor an Academy?
Lets start with the University.
It is the biggest institution by some measure. It is also the newest institution created just under two years ago from a gaggle of Cumbrian and Lancastrian colleges in the belief that a University would drive Cumbria's regeneration efforts.
It has campuses and buildings all over the county as well as North Lancashire. It has been struggling since it's inception to attract sufficient numbers of students to make itself financially viable.
In fact it itself expected to make a loss for the first three years.
Imagine going to a bank with a business plan which stated in black and white 'We expect to make a loss for the next three years but it will all come good in year 4!'.
Quite rightly the bank would throw you out, unless you are Cumbria University.
So who funds the debt?
Well of course it's the long suffering and increasingly impoverished taxpayer of course.
The DCSF is forcing the University to come up with savings in the millions by all manner of 'cost cutting strategies' and then it goes and give the University a grant or loan, isn't clear which, to allow the University to run courses students actually want to take. 'Left hand', 'right hand' and all that.
Despite this cash injection numbers of students signing up are nowhere near enough to allow the University to break even let alone turn a profit.
So against this background what has it as an institution got to gain from sponsoring not just Barrows Academy but the other two Cumbrian Academies?
As far as I am able to ascertain it's all to do with raising the profile of the University.
As it is so new and is running courses that too few Cumbrian students want to take it has embarked on a strategy of getting it's name 'out there'.
It figures if it can be involved with every Cumbrian secondary school it's profile will rise and more Cumbrian students will want to study in their home county thus helping to stop the perceived Cumbrian young person brain drain.
This of course is a poor strategy because young people are in fact individual so will always do what is best for their own education situation.
This is only right and proper in my opinion as why should they be streamlined into filling the University when it doesn't serve their needs?
Equally why should anyone born a Cumbrian have to stay a Cumbrian just to feed Cumbrian industry and commerce?
Both scenarios are badly flawed and until the University stops looking inwards into Cumbria and outwards to the whole of the UK and beyond it is doomed to stumble along because the hard truth is most Cumbrian young people want to get their higher education, life and work outside of Cumbria!
The University should in my opinion look to it's laurels before it embarks on any sort of program to try and influence secondary age children into learning within it's varied and far flung campuses.
What do you think?
It is the biggest institution by some measure. It is also the newest institution created just under two years ago from a gaggle of Cumbrian and Lancastrian colleges in the belief that a University would drive Cumbria's regeneration efforts.
It has campuses and buildings all over the county as well as North Lancashire. It has been struggling since it's inception to attract sufficient numbers of students to make itself financially viable.
In fact it itself expected to make a loss for the first three years.
Imagine going to a bank with a business plan which stated in black and white 'We expect to make a loss for the next three years but it will all come good in year 4!'.
Quite rightly the bank would throw you out, unless you are Cumbria University.
So who funds the debt?
Well of course it's the long suffering and increasingly impoverished taxpayer of course.
The DCSF is forcing the University to come up with savings in the millions by all manner of 'cost cutting strategies' and then it goes and give the University a grant or loan, isn't clear which, to allow the University to run courses students actually want to take. 'Left hand', 'right hand' and all that.
Despite this cash injection numbers of students signing up are nowhere near enough to allow the University to break even let alone turn a profit.
So against this background what has it as an institution got to gain from sponsoring not just Barrows Academy but the other two Cumbrian Academies?
As far as I am able to ascertain it's all to do with raising the profile of the University.
As it is so new and is running courses that too few Cumbrian students want to take it has embarked on a strategy of getting it's name 'out there'.
It figures if it can be involved with every Cumbrian secondary school it's profile will rise and more Cumbrian students will want to study in their home county thus helping to stop the perceived Cumbrian young person brain drain.
This of course is a poor strategy because young people are in fact individual so will always do what is best for their own education situation.
This is only right and proper in my opinion as why should they be streamlined into filling the University when it doesn't serve their needs?
Equally why should anyone born a Cumbrian have to stay a Cumbrian just to feed Cumbrian industry and commerce?
Both scenarios are badly flawed and until the University stops looking inwards into Cumbria and outwards to the whole of the UK and beyond it is doomed to stumble along because the hard truth is most Cumbrian young people want to get their higher education, life and work outside of Cumbria!
The University should in my opinion look to it's laurels before it embarks on any sort of program to try and influence secondary age children into learning within it's varied and far flung campuses.
- The fact it is still struggling badly after 2 years of trying.
- The fact it is in debt to the tune of £5.5M and climbing.
- The fact it's Dean of Faculty who is the 'face' of the sponsor has never taught in a secondary school or had any experience of running a secondary school.
- The fast it is primarily after more Cumbrian 'bums on seats'.
What do you think?
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