2 learning January/February 2009
FOCUS
Vice-chancellor, University of Cumbria
`OPENING DOORS AND TRANSFORMING LIVES'
CHRIS CARR
www.cumberland-news.co.uk/learning
for the latest education news in Cumbria
I
was always okay academically but
my enjoyment at school definitely
came from a love of music and sport.
The seeds of music were planted in me
while I was at Belle Vue Infant and
Junior schools, where I learned the
recorder and had string lessons, then I
was given wonderful opportunities at
Morton School.
The music department at Morton was
such an exciting place where pupils were
welcome at lunchtimes and break times.
There were real opportunities for
involvement. Christine Tomlinson, who
led the music department, was an
absolute inspiration. She made me see
that studying music was quite cool, and
for a lad at that age, with a few hang-ups,
that was important.
My other great love was sport. I got
lots of opportunities at Belle Vue, and
was in the swimming and football teams.
At secondary I was team captain and
played for the Carlisle United under 16
team.
At Morton, Mike Stainton, a PE
teacher who coached the football teams,
was a great role model for a young lad
and encouraged us to do well.
And it was Mike who helped me decide
to study music and sport at university,
There's more reason than ever to spend
on student fees during this recession
A
n important element of
government education policy
for the last 11 years has been
that it is in the interests of the
country, and in the interests of a
larger proportion of our population
than hitherto, to continue in
education beyond the minimum age
when education is compulsory.
A national planning target of
participation in higher education has
been set, and the overall objective is
that 50 per cent of all people under
the age of 30 will have some
engagement with higher education by
the year 2010.
Whether or not the 50 per cent
figure will be achieved is not the
main issue.
The key national driver is that of
encouraging a greater proportion of
the people of the country to go to
bad or that debt should be avoided at
all costs.
Borrowing money to buy a house
makes a great deal of sense � it
represents an investment in one's
self in terms of providing a place to
live for an individual and his or her
family.
Debt in this context only becomes
objectionable when it cannot be
sustained by the income of an
individual, such as where people
have borrowed up to 10 times their
annual income to fund a mortgage �
this is unsustainable and foolish.
I believe that incurring debt to
support one's own education is, in
fact, probably the most justifiable of
all forms of debt. It represents, after
all, a direct investment in one's own
future at the beginning of
adulthood.
No one would ever doubt the
wisdom of a young person in
sacrificing the higher wages which
might otherwise be earned in the
short term in a dead-end job, by
undertaking an apprenticeship
where, although the wages may be
lower, the individual emerges as a
highly-skilled person with enhanced
job prospects (and enhanced earning
potential) as a result of that
sacrifice.
Investment in one's own university
education through incurring the
necessary debt to fund three years as
a full-time student is exactly
comparable.
In recessionary times the natural
instinct of many people is to shy
away from risk and debt, and there is
no doubt that becoming a university
student involves both.
However, I believe that the risks of
not investing in one's own future are
hugely greater.
The reasons are simply stated � the
world in which we all live and work
becomes more complex by the day
and the premium placed on
knowledge, ideas and innovation is
increasing steadily.
There can be no better long-term
investment that enabling oneself to
succeed in that environment.
`Incurring debt to
support one's education
is probably the most
justifiable form of debt '
university, because by doing so the
needs of the British economy, and of
our society, are better served.
We will flourish in a global
economy through the exploitation of
our natural assets of knowledge,
ideas, inventiveness and ability to
innovate.
Where does this all fit in a context
where the university students of
today are likely to incur significant
debts as the price of receiving a
university education?
In the post-credit crunch
recessionary world of 2009 we are all
appraising and re-appraising our
attitude to debt. Some people, of
course, have always been careful to
avoid any unnecessary debt, but for
many people in our society debt has
become, at any rate, at least until
recently, a normal aspect of their
lifestyle.
I suspect that this latter attitude
will change significantly over the
coming months and years as people
struggle to come to terms with the
new realities of an economy in
recession and with the new
national realisation that
unnecessary debt and the free use
of credit do not sustain a stable
economic existence.
But this does not mean that debt is
MY SCHOOLDAYS:
Andrew Cairns
`The teacher
helped me
realise music
could be cool'
Andrew Cairns, 30, is the new headteacher at Kingmoor
Junior School in Carlisle, and one of the youngest heads in
Cumbria.
He was previously deputy head at Belle Vue Primary, the
same school he attended as a child.
Andrew studied sports science and music at Manchester
Metropolitan University before doing teacher training.
He worked briefly at a school in Devon before the pull of
family and friends brought him back to Carlisle.
Andrew is married to Elizabeth, a teacher at Belle Vue,
and has two children: Rosie, 18 months, and two-month-old
Joseph.
`Our football coach helped
me decide to study music
and sport at uni � I didn't
know you could do both'
A wonderful start: `Morton helped
me get where I am in life'
Editor Kelly Eve
01228 612641
keve@cngroup.co.uk
Writer Rosalind Gibb
01228 612660 Published by Cumbrian Newspapers Ltd,
Newspaper House, Dalston Rd, Carlisle, CA2 5UA
The next issue of learning is published with
The Cumberland News on Friday 20 February
2009
Advertising
Sarah Duffy
01228 612264
`In recessionary times,
the instinct of many
people is to shy away
from risk and debt'

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