Friday 29-09-2017 - 10:36

On Monday 25 September at the Labour Party Conference, stakeholders from education and environment groups got together for an event called, “What would a green National Education Service look like?”

The roundtable - run by NUS, the Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) and SERA, Labour’s environment campaign - hosted speakers including: Gordon Marsden MP, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Further Education and Skills; Joanna de Groot, President of the Universities and Colleges Union; Graham Peterson, Secretary of the GJA – and our very own NUS President, Shakira Martin.

The event looked at building constructive responses to the following questions:

• How can we equip young people with the skills needed to succeed in a clean energy era?
• How can education policy best complement Labour's ambitious low-carbon industrial strategy?
• How can Labour ensure that sustainability is integrated through all levels of education?

In everyone’s contributions, there were clear threads. The importance of lifelong learning for sustainability was central; the Climate Change Act, it was discussed, is limited in its effectiveness until it is underpinned by concomitant education and industrial strategies. There was consensus on the serious barriers posed by working in silos. 

In terms of students’ learning and future jobs, attendees agreed that the idea of ‘employability’ needs to be thought about in relation to ‘jobs with a purpose’ – to make a positive impact in the world, regardless of career path. In this vein, a green National Education Service would track and monitor sustainability in the curriculum, across all disciplines – updating success criteria beyond literacy, maths and other conventional measures.

Shakira shared with the group NUS’ priority that students leave formal education as part of the solution to sustainability challenges, rather than perpetuators of the problems. In order to support students in contributing to a just transition to a low-carbon future, Shakira said, “It does not matter whether a student is studying archaeology or hairdressing, forensic science or art history, politics or dentistry – they all need to be learning about sustainability in a way which is relevant and meaningful to them.” 

NUS has surveyed over 40,000 students in higher and further education about sustainability over the last seven years – and Shakira emphasised the results, which reveal students’ commitment to fighting climate change. “Their interest is loud and clear,” she said.

“We are already experiencing the devastating impact of climate change worldwide,” she said, “and it is the world’s poorest and people of colour who are massively disproportionately affected.”

Shakira closed her speech by saying:

“Today’s students make up the last generation with the opportunity to prevent irreversible climate change. Our educational institutions, as public institutions, have a moral obligation to prepare future leaders with the knowledge, skills, and attributes to solve such pressing challenges. Our students’ unions play a critical role in shaping the lives of students, and it is vital going forward that we start to think holistically about education. Together, we can ensure that the next generation of leaders have the knowledge, skills, attributes, and values needed to create a more just and sustainable future for all.”