UK: Growing engagement with communities

Inclusion, engagement and partnership have been common parlance in the lexicon of Britain’s ruling Labour Party since it came to power in 1997. Earlier this month, Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell called on universities to increase partnerships with schools and communities to help achieve the government’s aim of attracting 60,000 more students into higher education. This followed his appeal last October for universities to sponsor ‘academies’ – a government programme aiming to transform former failing inner city schools into successful schools with new money, sponsorship and buildings. On a less formal level, universities around the country are involved in community and school projects with thousands of students helping to run them.

Dr Wendy Piatt, director of the Russell Group of 20 leading universities, was quick to respond to Rammell’s speech. Piatt pointed out that all group members had strong links with schools in deprived areas, enabling thousands of staff and students to tutor and mentor local pupils.

“These volunteers play a crucial role in not only raising their attainment but also in providing advice and guidance and inspiring role models for children who may not have any family members who have been to university,” she said.

Piatt added that the group was also committed to improving science, technology, engineering and maths teaching in schools – the STEM subjects – as there had been a considerable decline in their take-up in the last decade, particularly among state school pupils.

Bristol University, a Russell group member, is one of the leaders in promoting chemistry. Its Bristol ChemLabS (sic) outreach project “engages with teachers, schools and students of all ages to provide excellent teaching and learning opportunities in chemistry”. It holds master classes for teachers and its school teacher fellow scheme, which aims to bridge the gap between the sectors, has been taken up by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Several seconded chemistry teachers have been appointed by the RSC to work at seven universities, including Warwick, Sheffield and Reading, for a term or the whole year. Post-graduate chemistry students also act as science ambassadors in local schools with pupils ranging from seven to post-16.

Individual students make significant contributions to their local communities: tea parties for the elderly, conservation work or raising money for charity. Two medical students at Leicester University recently started a branch of a Scottish-based charity, the Backpack project, to encourage primary school children to donate unwanted books and equipment to impoverished pupils in Malawi.

Diana Warwick, chief executive of Universities UK, the vice-chancellors body, welcomed the government’s academy sponsorship initiative, saying UUK was strongly committed to working with schools, and partnerships with academies provided another route.

A recent UUK report said that sport and university facilities – arts centres, museums and galleries – were also used in initiatives to help deliver social inclusion, reduce crime, promote lifelong learning and improve health.