Cussed minority refusing to return to face-to-face educating, increased schooling minister says

A “cussed” minority of universities in England are refusing to return to face-to-face educating, the upper schooling minister has mentioned.

Michelle Donelan mentioned it was “utterly illogical” that college students in some universities may go to events however not attend in-person lectures.

Showing earlier than the Commons Training Choose Committee, Ms Donelan was quizzed on studies that some establishments are persevering with with on-line programs regardless that all Covid-19 restrictions have been dropped.

“I’ve been very clear, this isn’t acceptable,” she mentioned. “What we anticipate as a Authorities, what I anticipate because the minister, is that each college is again to pre-pandemic of nose to nose educating.”

Ms Donelan mentioned that in some circumstances, universities have been now utilizing know-how to “improve” their supply to college students, which she welcomed.

However she added: “If it’s detracting from face-to-face, or a cost-cutting train, that’s merely not on. So I’ve been personally calling vice-chancellors the place we’ve acquired letters from college students or dad and mom or MPs and asking them what they’re doing.

“These universities have both informed me that they’re altering their insurance policies instantly or they’ve one school that’s not working in response to the college’s central coverage and that they’re correcting that.

“We do have now solely a cussed minority of unis which are refusing to get again to nose to nose.

“It’s utterly illogical, if a pupil can exit afterwards and for dinner or go to a celebration or go to the retailers, it makes absolute sense that they will’t be in a lecture, there’s no additional danger there from Covid.”

On the listening to on Wednesday, Ms Donelan mentioned that the upper schooling watchdog, the Workplace for College students, could be “actively investigating with boots on the bottom these universities which are failing to get again to pre-pandemic ranges of educating”.

“Typically it is only one rogue school in that college, however that’s one rogue school an excessive amount of,” she added.

Ms Donelan mentioned that over the last yr £1m in compensation had been paid out to college students by universities for not delivering programs of enough high quality.