Plans unveiled for student engagement
Labour has unveiled plans to allow the voices of university students to be heard by the government.
At the heart of the plan is the creation of a new ministerial post, minister for students, which will be filled by Lord Triesman.
It will be his role to represent the voices of the country’s 2.3 million students.
Secretary for innovation, universities and skills, John Denham, said: “The prime minister has made it clear that he wants to listen to people across the country to capitalise on their insights and expertise.
“My ministerial team and I have already been engaging with students up and down the country to hear for ourselves, first hand, their concerns, aspirations and experiences.
“This new approach I have announced today will mean that for the first time students’ voices are heard at the heart of government.”
The announcements follow Gordon Brown’s commitment earlier this year to engage with the British people and define their wishes for government.
As part of the plan five “student juries” will be established later in the year, giving students a platform to air their views on everything from finance and participation, to learning support.
The juries are expected to take place in London, Sheffield, Bristol and Manchester.
A new body, the National Student Forum, will also be created to represent the views of students. The information gathered by this body will then be used to inform government policy.
The new minister, Lord Triesman, said: “We need students to tell us how higher education is working for them and what more can be looked at to make things better.
“The NUS has been urging us to talk more to students and I am confident that the programme of listening we have announced will allow us to do just that.”
The new minister was general secretary of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) from 1993 to 2001, and has held posts at Warwick and Cambridge universities.
Lord Triesman was formerly under secretary of state for the Department of Innovation, University of Skills; a new department created in June this year by Gordon Brown.
