Saturday, June 17, 2006
Universities
"If students are making calculations about what degree is going to get them the best job and the best opportunity in life this is "no bad thing.""
Bill Rammell, MP.
Minister for lifelong learning, further and higher education.
The Guardian, Feb 18th 2006.
It seems that this man doesn't understand the significance of a thousand years of civilisation.
A degree is not and never was ABOUT getting a job. A degree does not "get you a job".
A degree is about getting a degree. It is about education. It is about education for its own sake. Universities are not about getting people jobs. They are about learning, gaining skills, and research for its own sake.
If I so desired I should be allowed to study mediaeval theology and then become a monk and hence earn no money.
If I so desired I should be able to study philosophy and then work in a kebab shop for the rest of my life and hence earn only a small amount of money.
How much money does someone need to study philosophy? Books, paper, pens, time.
Nothing very expensive there.
You say who will pay for the degree? Well, if I were to study medicine with the intention of becoming a doctor then society would benefit and hence society should pay.
The argument that is put forward for "tuition fees" even by "left-wingers" is that IF your degree enables you to get a job that earns a lot of money, then you should be asked to "put something back in".
This argument falls down because there is NO causal link between degree and income. It is too big an if.
Well there is no if.
We very often hear about "entrepreneurs" or "self-made men" who by some miracle:) have made vast sums of money without ever having been to university (wow!) or even nursery school:).
Should these people "put something back in"???
It is of benefit to society that universities exist that study, teach and research all kinds of knowledge. Hence society should pay for it.
That's basically how it has been for a thousand years or so.The real reason for the introduction of "tuition fees" is rampant capitalism and money-worshipping and the relentless commercialisation of absolutely everything.Universities are no doubt now seen as an "industry" like everything else.
They exist for profit and not for the search for knowledge for its own sake.
Civilisation stands in peril. :)
.......And what about all those people whose courses are paid for by the state - NVQs, so I am led to believe, for example plumbing - and whose qualifications help get them what can be very well paid jobs, for example as plumbers?
Universities
"If students are making calculations about what degree is going to get them the best job and the best opportunity in life this is "no bad thing.""
Bill Rammell, MP.
Minister for lifelong learning, further and higher education.
The Guardian, Feb 18th 2006.
It seems that this man doesn't understand the significance of a thousand years of civilisation.
A degree is not and never was ABOUT getting a job. A degree does not "get you a job".
A degree is about getting a degree. It is about education. It is about education for its own sake. Universities are not about getting people jobs. They are about learning, gaining skills, and research for its own sake.
If I so desired I should be allowed to study mediaeval theology and then become a monk and hence earn no money.
If I so desired I should be able to study philosophy and then work in a kebab shop for the rest of my life and hence earn only a small amount of money.
How much money does someone need to study philosophy? Books, paper, pens, time.
Nothing very expensive there.
You say who will pay for the degree? Well, if I were to study medicine with the intention of becoming a doctor then society would benefit and hence society should pay.
The argument that is put forward for "tuition fees" even by "left-wingers" is that IF your degree enables you to get a job that earns a lot of money, then you should be asked to "put something back in".
This argument falls down because there is NO causal link between degree and income. It is too big an if.
Well there is no if.
We very often hear about "entrepreneurs" or "self-made men" who by some miracle:) have made vast sums of money without ever having been to university (wow!) or even nursery school:).
Should these people "put something back in"???
It is of benefit to society that universities exist that study, teach and research all kinds of knowledge. Hence society should pay for it.
That's basically how it has been for a thousand years or so.The real reason for the introduction of "tuition fees" is rampant capitalism and money-worshipping and the relentless commercialisation of absolutely everything.Universities are no doubt now seen as an "industry" like everything else.
They exist for profit and not for the search for knowledge for its own sake.
Civilisation stands in peril. :)
.......And what about all those people whose courses are paid for by the state - NVQs, so I am led to believe, for example plumbing - and whose qualifications help get them what can be very well paid jobs, for example as plumbers?