The Department of Education and UK government regulators accused of 'throttling online learning at birth'

Ever since the pandemic, remote working and remote learning have greatly taken off and have come to become new standards for many institutions.

The 2021/2022 Jisc survey regarding student digital experience insights in higher education has shown that students tend to prefer a blended structure with both in-class and online courses.

Out of 33,726 respondents, 42 per cent expressed they would prefer a mainly on-site learning basis, 45 per cent stated they would rather have a blend of on-site and online and 13 per cent only want to be taught online.

Furthermore, students who answered the survey reported that their online experience from one year to another has greatly improved, with 74 per cent of them rating it above average. Most of them described it as the best imaginable, excellent or good.

Nevertheless, there were 51 per cent of students still facing issues with WiFi and broadband speed and 63 per cent reported struggling with accessing digital resources, assessments or lectures.

In a recently published article by FE Week Newspaper, Mark Dawe CEO of Skills Network questioned if the Department of Education and Government regulators are "turning their back on progress" or "throttling online learning at birth." The claim comes right after the Department for Education moved the goalposts on their skills BootCamp tender.

This motion has then increased the requirement for in-class teaching by 85 per cent, which will limit opportunities and improve outcomes for many communities in the UK. Moreover, the guidance on "remote education good practice" was withdrawn about a year ago, strengthening doubts about the government's intentions regarding online learning.

According to the latest governmental claims, contracts were supposed to start this month but were severely delayed by a "high volume" of bids received for the project with training providers who rushed to bid for a piece of the £36 million up to clutch.

Dawe further believes that "online learning helps positively transform lives," but the recent government motions have shown reluctance in technological progress and educational innovation. Not only does it limits students' learning capabilities but it also decreases competitivity for innovative platforms such as Skills Network.

Moreover, face-to-face learning tends to ironically have a lack of interactions because the lecture formats are usually very impersonal, thus the quality of teaching decreases and students are more drained from it. Whereas with online learning, some courses can be tailored and privatised, as Dawe stated in his article, students can have access to renowned lectures, who usually cost a lot for their presence.

Blending online and in-class learning is a clever and efficient way to provide education choosing quality over quantity. Due to the effect of the pandemic, many students lost interest in studying and their mental health has taken a toll.

With thousands of university workers recently going on strikes because of low wages, the UK government's investments in the education sector are now more important than ever.