30 Education


THE HERALD FRIDAY JANUARY 20 2017


Senedd debates higher education


Accused of talking ‘ a load of rubbish ’: Darren Millar Llyr Gruffydd: Universities responsible for 47,000 jobs Michelle Brown: ‘People are not bargaining chips’ Wales open for learners: Kirsty Williams A DEBATE on the future


of higher education in Wales saw the unusual spectacle of the Conservative stance on overseas students being criticised by a UKIP AM for being too illiberal. The debate, led by Plaid Cymru’s


Llyr Gruffydd, called for the Welsh Government to strengthen international relations between Welsh universities and the European Union and the rest of the world. Amongst other things, Plaid’s


motion called on the Welsh Government to protect and replace current EU funding programmes to secure the continued participation of


Welsh universities in the Erasmus Plus scheme of staff and student exchange, and to support further international collaborations and movement of students; and to remove international students from UK net migration targets. And it was that which the


Conservatives’ spokesperson on Education, Darren Millar, sought to water down with an amendment that removed the substance of the motion with a series of less rigorous terms. Llyr Gruffydd told the Senedd:


“If you count university expenditure in terms of staff and students, then Welsh universities have an important


direct impact on local economies. In 2013, they produced worth £2.4 billion of GVA in Wales, which accounted for 4.6% of all Welsh GVA in that particular year. Welsh universities produced £600 million of export gains in 2014. Universities are responsible for almost 47,000 jobs here in Wales, directly and indirectly.” While he agreed with much of what


Plaid Cymru proposed, and agreed that students should be excluded from net migration figures, Mr Millar claimed the former visa arrangements had been subject to widespread abuse and said that he wanted ‘some reciprocal arrangement as well with the EU, in


Should you have GCSEs on your CV? ALTHOUGH it may feel like a lifeti


me ago, keeping yourGCSE results on your CV may help with job success, according to a new poll of senior decision-makers that shows GCSEs are the most valuable qualifications for employees to have. The YouGov survey of 500 business


leaders, commissioned to support a new quiz based on modern GCSEs from Oxford Open Learning Trust, looked into the skills and qualifications that employers consider to be desirable when searching for new staff to join their business. Distance learning provider Oxford


Open Learning Trust created the Would You Pass? quiz to put adults to the test and find out which questions from modern exams - like Citizenship and


Health and Social Care - they would be able to answer correctly. Each year, the Trust serves learners


that might need an extra qualification, such as a GCSE or A Level, in order to get their desired job and start a new career. Out of the qualifications included


within the survey, Maths and English GCSEs and A Levels were seen to be more useful than the Science equivalents


and other qualifications. Top five qualifications overall senior


decision-makers see as valuable for employees to have: • GCSE Maths (51%) • GCSE English (51%) • A Level Maths (35%) • A Level English (35%) • GCSE Science (23%)


terms of citizenship and the ability to stay at work in those universities where we have staff employed’. Plaid Cymru AM Simon Thomas


said: “One post is created in Wales for every three students who come to Wales from outside the European Union. One post is created for every five students coming from within the EU. That corresponds to over £200 million in terms of payments by international students to universities in Wales every year, including £160 million of payments for tuition fees. Hefin David (Lab), a former senior


lecturer at Cardiff Met and overseas universities, accused Mr Millar of talking ‘a load of rubbish’ and pointed out in his personal experience it was the UK Government whose policies had led to a reduction in the number of overseas MBA students at Cardiff Met from 150 in 2008 to 30 in 2016. Mr Millar’s nemesis then came


in the unlikely form of UKIP’s North Wales Regional AM, Michelle Brown. Ms Brown wasted no time in


laying into Darren Millar: “Those currently working in UK universities will be allowed to stay. To say that they might not is, again, perhaps coming from a party that is doing all it can to scaremonger and demand things that will happen anyway so that they can attempt to claim victory further down the line. UKIP has said, time and time again, that those EU nationals living here at the moment should have the right to stay,” Michelle Brown


began, before warming to her task and continuing: “Theresa May should announce that immediately and stop using people who are settled here as some kind of bargaining chip. The Tory Member who proposed the amendment should be demanding nothing less. I’m afraid his half-hearted amendment to merely explore arrangements for a reciprocal agreement is disgracefully less. UKIP says that those who are here at the moment should be allowed to stay regardless of any reciprocal agreement. The law suggests that that is the case in any event.” Huw Irranca-Davies (Lab)


followed up by observing: “There are nearly 1,400 staff from other countries within the EU - and we’re still within the EU at the moment - within our Welsh universities, both academic and non-academic.” Responding to the debate on behalf


of the Welsh Government, Cabinet Secretary Kirsty Williams said: “Wales welcomes students and staff from across Europe and across the world. Our universities and our communities benefit from that diversity and that dynamism. Our own students benefit from the opportunities such as Erasmus that have let them share their experiences across Europe. I and this Government will do all that we can to support the future of such opportunities and openness in the sector.” The motion was passed by 35 votes


to 16, with UKIP and Conservative members opposed.


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