Higher education generation
University, it is something we all know about. It is a choice many of us are faced with. With the Bradley Higher Education Review released in December 2008 it looks like some big changes are headed our way. The review covers a diverse range of topics and one of the more notable points is the percentage of higher educated Australians. The target is 40% of 25-43 year old’s should have a bachelor degree by 2020 up from the current rate of 29%. For this to happen there will be huge changes in the way government funding is given to universities, changes to the way places are offered to potential students and the quality of teaching in degrees. Australia’s universities are torn with their opinions on the Bradley Review but what do we think?
Are we concerned about these ramifications? The glaringly obvious thing is that 40% of us will have degrees and 60% won’t. Such a huge amount of weight is placed on having a degree and many industries consider it a minimum requirement. What do you think? Does that make you feel comfortable? Concerned? A lot of people will be falling into the bottom half of the population, will that make us more divided at work? Will it encourage elitist attitudes and a class system? Will the value of a degree drop with the University Admissions Index (UAI) score? Such a huge amount of growth in a short time is leading change in the way higher education is offered to Australians but what do we think about it? Does a degree even matter all that much? What choice did you make? Please let us know in you comments.
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Universities have no longer become the instrument for further learning nor a beacon in the path of aspiring academics, but rather bloated cash collectors. A former acquaintance took a literature course at a certain established university (which I have chosen not to name), finding the work easier than her senior years at high school, therefore deemed it unnecessary to work to her full potential, or as I would say, slacking off. They passed her, even though she didn’t deserve it. A few days ago, I was reading the local newspaper and was unsurprised to see a professor from that university complaining that he resigned because he was forced to allow students who would otherwise fail to pass, and up the grades of students who didn’t earn good marks.
Why all this? The university wanted to keep their hands in the pockets of wealthy middle class families that wanted their children in university! This is disgraceful.