Young minds in the public sector are more valuable than the cost of university – they would repay the investment many times over
The value of a degree is deeply entrenched in our modern culture, regardless of its quality or the practical difference it makes to the student's skills. It is still possible for those without degrees to get on, but nowadays not having a degree is a huge barrier to entry and progression in almost every profession.
Given the cost of university (£27,000 for three years' tuition, and perhaps the same again for accommodation and food) this means that we are now at a place where a £50,000 debt is a pre-condition for entry to a lot of professional work. That's before the costs of mandatory postgraduate study to become a lawyer, an accountant and so on.
The necessity of accumulating such debt to enter a profession is grossly unfair and restricts social mobility enormously. Those without family wealth will face big salary deductions post-graduation and be unable to obtain financial security for decades.
Employers can and should help – and as a large employer, the public sector should take the lead. At present, there are highly successful graduate schemes for the civil service and the NHS, with the national graduate development programme for local government (of which I am an alumnus) not far behind. A scattering of local schemes also exist, as well as the civil service apprenticeship scheme and various postgraduate opportunities for professionals to become accountants, surveyors and the like whilst working for public sector organisations.
In other countries, and among forward-thinking companies here in the UK, student sponsorship is common. We should be doing more of it. Organisations support students through university, and in return the student works for the organisation after graduation.
This could work in our public sector. A council or NHS trust could fund the university fees of a handful of local school-leavers in return for work during and after university. As well as the obvious financial benefits to students, they would have a guaranteed job and the start of a career. Councils and hospitals would be securing a flow of young people into an otherwise-ageing workforce, and despite the payment of tuition fees the costs would be an investment which would lead to savings in the medium-term.
Good graduates provide talent and enthusiasm to a level above their salaries, and the value of young minds in an organisation is higher than the cost of funding a degree. By selecting only the most promising, and to work in those areas where there is greatest need, the costs of sponsorship will be paid back many times over in value added to sponsoring organisations.
Crucially, public sector organisations sponsoring young people will create stronger links in the local community, fostering a culture of mutual aid between participating hospitals and councils and local schools and colleges. Too often local public sector organisations compete with one another when they should be co-operating. Joint investment of time and money in young local young people goes against that destructive grain. It will be a win-win for the whole community if talented youngsters return from university with greatly reduced debts and commit to working to improve their local public services, working in them and mentoring the next cohort from their own schools.
In the South West, where I work, recruiting staff to the public sector is a challenge. The most talented students leave for big city universities and never return. National pay arrangements mean that incentives are difficult to offer. Ambitious young people see little future locally, and those who want to work as graduates for the big local public sector organisations have to resort to national schemes.
Showing our faith in local young people by sponsoring them could help to solve our problems, and lift the burden of debt off our best young people.
Richard Baum is a service development planning manager for an NHS foundation trust
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