Speaker of the 2021 NCUP (Virtual) Annual Education lecture, to be delivered at the AGM on 17 February is Sir Anthony Seldon
NCUP (Virtual) Annual Education Lecture
17th February 2021 at 11.00 a.m.
to be addressed by Sir Anthony Seldon
“A New Vision for Higher Education Post Covid-19”
Universities worldwide were long overdue change before COVID-19 struck us in March 2020. We were under threat from multiple directions, including affordability, continued relevance, new technologies, changing job requirements, intrusive and critical governments, pension cost, student mental health, fair access, quality and quantity of teaching, environmental pressures, excessive, unclear and conflicting goals, value for money, free speech and cultural wars, and retreat from globalisation.
Then COVID piled fresh problems onto the sector. For all the resilience of the sector shown in the UK, the underlying problems were mounting.
Returning to the status quo ante is no longer possible. The sector needs to grasp its own fate in both hands, not be dictated to by the government or by the office for students.
Change needs to come in five areas: adoption of fourth education revolution technologies, diversification of HE provision rather than homogenisation, positive mental health, a huge boost to research, and a transformative boost to social mobility, as well as technical/ vocational education.
The sector has lacked an overall vision of what Universities are for as we approach the mid 21st century. The lecture will offer a clear vision for the future.
Sir Anthony Seldon
Sir Anthony Seldon, previously Vice-Chancellor of The University of Buckingham (2015-2020), is one of Britain’s leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators, and political biographers. He is author or editor of over 45 books on contemporary history, including the inside books on the last five Prime Ministers, Chair of the National Archives Trust, was the co-founder and first director of the Institute for Contemporary British History, is co-founder of Action for Happiness, honorary historical adviser to 10 Downing Street, a member of the Government’s First World War Culture Committee, was Chair of the Comment Awards, is a Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the President of IPEN, (International Positive Education Network), co-founder of the Institute for the Ethics of AI in Education, is patron or on the board of many charities, founder of the Via Sacra Western Front Walk, and was executive producer of the film Journey’s End. He was a transformative Head for 20 years, first of Brighton College and then Wellington College. He appeared on Desert Island Discs in 2016. For the last fifteen years, he has given all his money from writing and lecturing to charity.
All NCUP members are invited to this lecture which will be followed by the NCUP AGM for 2021 at 1.00 pm. This lecture will be held virtually on TEAMs.
For Free registration please contact the NCUP Executive Officer Mrs Cheryl Humphrey, on cherylhumphrey@ymail.com and for attendance please click here.