Saturday 23 May 2009

Letter Pulished (abridged) in TLS regarding debate on Tuition Fees

Dear Sir

Whilst I am shocked and disappointed at the government’s proposals for the payment of university fees, I am even more disappointed with the surrounding discussion, which has addressed only the topic of the extent to which the new fee structure will act as a disincentive to students from deprived backgrounds. Undoubtedly this is important, but has obscured the equally important issue of the increasing trend towards vocational degrees such measures will encourage. While a £20 000 debt may be small fry to somebody with a law degree under their belt, if one reads, say, philosophy, the ability to pay this off after graduation will be greatly diminished. The upshot of this policy will be to discourage applications for purely academic subjects in favour of less rigorous, applied fields. The university system will become a production line for managers, accountants, and lawyers; Oxford and Cambridge will become merely pit-stops between public school and The City (in light of the government’s recent misguided apoplexy over the Laura Spence affair, this highlights its blatant hypocrisy). It is very difficult at the moment to pursue Arts or Humanities to a post-graduate level, as funding is mainly provided by corporations for scientific places (explaining, for example, the preponderance of research on economically efficient oil-drilling, and the lack of research into alternative energy, organic food, etc.). Things can only get worse under this proposed regime. The government looks more and more to America for policy precedent. It seems that we are to follow the U.S. down the route of anti-intellectualism as well. Take the inane justification of why one should pay more to go to Oxford by Higher Education minister Margaret Hodge to John Humphries on BBC’s On The Record (Sun 17th Nov) : “don't let's pretend that a degree in theology … from Luton is the same as a degree in accountancy from Oxford.” She is justifying top-up fees on the basis that some degrees are more valuable and more employable than others. However, being a highly academic institution Oxford offers very few applied subjects, and certainly doesn’t offer a degree in the intellectually-void discipline of accountancy. One can, however, take a challenging course in theology. This betrays the government’s lack of regard for intellectualism. If we are to follow the government’s message to its conclusion, there is only worth in education as a means to get well-paid employment; there is no value in academia, intellectualism, or knowledge for knowledge’s sake.

Anna Berry
Bucks

This was published years ago, around the time of the Laura Spence affair. I'm not sure if the facts have changed - perhaps these days the Said Business School offers an accountancy course?



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