Committee
Education and Culture Committee 01 March 2016
01 Mar 2016 · S4 · Education and Culture Committee
Item of business
College Reform
Paul Little
Watch on SPTV
At the heart of our change effort—and remember that we are a bit further down the road—is the fact that we kept the students very much at the centre. We have a college purpose statement. We do not have mission statements or vision statements—those are management jargon. We use the concept of plain English. We talk about our purpose and our way. Our purpose is simple: it is to let learning flourish. Every single thing that we have done in the reforms—designing the new buildings; the change to our teaching approach; and the big emphasis that we have put on performance—has been for one reason, and one reason only, which is to let learning flourish. We ensure that every student—there are more than 30,000 full-time and part-time students at the City of Glasgow College—flourishes, whatever their background. We have students from black and minority ethnic backgrounds and, since the reforms, their success rate is up. We have students from a disabled background, and their success rate is up. We have students from underrepresented sections, and their success rates are up. Our higher education success rate is up by 12 per cent. Our success rate for FE students, who account for about 40 per cent of the total, is up by 19 per cent. There has been a huge team effort. Our board was fully engaged, our management team was focused on the learner and our staff were not distracted from the core activity, which is learning and teaching. That has been enhanced by our always having had a compelling vision of a positive change. We have embraced the change as a positive thing—it has not been imposed on us. The staff have also had the opportunity to benefit from the next generation. What reform has done for Glasgow, and the City of Glasgow College, is to give us a chance to reset our approach. If you had to start all over again in any activity, you would have a chance to rethink all your fundamental approaches. We did that and we had a chance to reframe all our priorities. We reframed them back—we gave the college back to the students and maybe took it away from the teachers.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Stewart Maxwell)
SNP
Welcome to the Education and Culture Committee’s seventh meeting in 2016. I remind all present that electronic devices should be switched off. Our first ite...
Gordon McGuinness (Skills Development Scotland)
I can view the reform from two sides: as a board member and chair of Reid Kerr College in Paisley until it merged to become part of West College Scotland, an...
Barry McCulloch (Federation of Small Businesses)
We expected two benefits for small businesses: increased responsiveness to the labour market and enhanced employer engagement. If we are being honest, there ...
Paul Little (City of Glasgow College)
The last time I was here, I talked about the three Rs—regionalisation, reform and reclassification. I have reflected since then and I now think that we as a ...
Annette Bruton (Edinburgh College)
If we look at what the reforms were intended to deliver, Edinburgh College is working hard to achieve better choices for students—not necessarily more choice...
The Convener
SNP
I thank you all. Mary Scanlon will start the questions.
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
When I read the two submissions from the colleges in Glasgow and Edinburgh, I thought that they could not be more different. One is positive and successful: ...
Annette Bruton
We did not set out to write a negative response for the committee. We sought to give a balanced view of where we are in the college sector. Many people are a...
Mary Scanlon
Con
You have pointed out the difficulties, the challenges and the risks, and the fact that meaningful engagement is variable. If I were a student who read that a...
Paul Little
That is a challenging question. I will not get into the politics of the two cities—I will avoid that one. You would be very welcome if you came to Glasgow ag...
Mary Scanlon
Con
I am a wee bit old for further education.
Paul Little
At the heart of our change effort—and remember that we are a bit further down the road—is the fact that we kept the students very much at the centre. We have...
The Convener
SNP
That is interesting but, fundamentally, is it not the case that Glasgow started its process two years earlier than Edinburgh did?
Paul Little
I assume so.
The Convener
SNP
Is that correct, roughly speaking?
Paul Little
Yes.
The Convener
SNP
Is it fair to say that Glasgow has had a two-year head start on some other colleges in the process, which is partly the reason for the difference? I have see...
Paul Little
I think that we started three years ahead, because we merged in 2010. Ultimately, I will not be dragged into making a comparison with any other college. I am...
Mary Scanlon
Con
I will go on to the reduction in learning activity that has been well documented over the past few months. The Audit Scotland report has the reduction in par...
Gordon McGuinness
Our funding is distinctly different from the Scottish funding council’s. Our modern apprenticeship programme is growing and the relationships with colleges i...
Mary Scanlon
Con
Are you funding more places or fewer?
Gordon McGuinness
Our main development programme—I think that we are working with 20 colleges in 2015-16—is the foundation apprenticeship model, which we had piloted in Fife a...
Barry McCulloch
The issues that small businesses come to us about focus purely on skills and recruitment. We know that 22 per cent of small businesses in Scotland recruit co...
Paul Little
At the City of Glasgow College, we are fortunate in that 60 per cent of our income comes from the Scottish funding council and about 40 per cent is non-SFC i...
Annette Bruton
The areas that Paul Little just outlined, such as the international work and the commercial work that we do, certainly help to mitigate economic pressures. E...
Mary Scanlon
Con
I will ask my final questions together. Not everyone has to answer all of them. First, I want to ask about national pay bargaining. I have brought along an ...
The Convener
SNP
Not everybody has to answer all of those questions. Let us start with Paul Little and Annette Bruton.
Paul Little
National pay bargaining is a process and not an event. I once saw a sign in a shop—
Mary Scanlon
Con
It has been a process for five years.
Paul Little
And it is coming to an end. Let us be honest. We have achieved national bargaining for support staff, which has been a huge endeavour. We have not had nation...