Hard wired into us humans seems to be a desire to “do better”. That can of course be bad, as well as good. When doing better means acquiring something at someone else’s expense it can be very bad; we see that with Putin’s attempt to invade Ukraine. But if it manifests itself as a desire to see our young people have a better life than we had, then generally it’s a force for good.

What is better? It is easy to measure that in materialistic terms (bigger television, smarter car, more exotic holidays etc), and not necessarily wrong to do so. But equally important, if less tangible, may be things like our civic society, environment, healthcare provision and educational opportunity.

In my old trade as a surgeon, it is really important that every generation of trainees believes that they can be better than “the boss”. And when the trainee becomes a Consultant, it is critical that she or he nurtures that desire in the next generation. There’s nothing undermining or negative about this; it is called progress. Without it we wouldn’t have hip replacements, cardiac stents or cataract surgery.

So I have been following the reports about Ceredigion County Council’s desire to acquire property in Lampeter with interest. I have no inside track here. It seems to be assumed that this is the old University Campus, and the suggestion is that it will be for educational purposes. Whilst the secrecy surrounding this fits a narrative of a Council that appears to care little for local democracy, we need to be a bit careful. It may be that there is a genuine opportunity here to do something that is good, especially in terms of giving our young, and our society a better future.

We know from previous reports in the Cambrian News that we have issues with post 16 education in Ceredigion. All years of education are important but getting it right for the “sixth form” years is critical. It certainly isn’t just about academia; this is a time when young people are transitioning to adults. They need to spread their wings and begin to fly the nest, to enjoy autonomy but to be guided in their responsibilities to themselves, their immediate circle and to society as a whole. And also to learn about life; current affairs, team building and experience of subjects and ideas outside of their “specialist subject” (including culture, drama and language).

Getting our young people to fulfil their potential is important not just for them but for society as a whole. We all know the requirement for economic growth, driven by higher productivity, and it is critical that teenagers are switched on to this, or their/our future is not going to be better. So we have to support and encourage them but (dare it be said?) challenge and push them too. No one wins a race without training hard!

Coleg Ceredigion and Coleg Sirgar, along with Coleg Cambria already provide very good vocational and academic courses. If you haven’t yet enjoyed dinner at the Coleg Ceredigion campus in Cardigan, that’s your loss. Many in Ceredigion long for a return of the Welsh Agricultural College or an equivalent (although Gelli Aur and Llysfasi) provide great courses.

But when I read a few months ago in this paper, of bringing over 200 senior medical and nursing staff from Kerala in India, was I alone in wondering why Wales, a nation that used to proudly export young doctors, can’t provide for itself. Don’t get me wrong, those Indian medics will be great for Wales, and great colleagues too. But where on earth has our ambition gone? If Wales is to stand proud, or even aspire to independence, that ambition is critical.

We know that providing academic post 16 (Sixth Form) education in Ceredigion is a challenge. A solution could be a residential campus in Lampeter providing a genuine centre of excellence. Let’s hope exploring that idea is at least part of the secret agenda.