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October 26, 2003
Another lunatic in charge of the asylum

Staggering and destructive inanity about higher education participation rates from...yes, you've guessed it, the new government adviser on higher education. Sir Alan Wilson, vice-chancellor of Leeds university, says that even the ludicrous target of getting half the population into university isn't enough; it should be 70%. This despite clear evidence that as more unqualified and unsuitable candidates are shoe-horned into academe, the standards of degrees are falling and the proportion of remedial work necessitated by the lamentable ignorance of new students is rising.

With all the supercilious arrogance and detachment from reality of his profession, Sir Alan brushes this aside on the basis that industry is crying out for more and more graduates. Well, the Confederation of British Industry might be, but when did that bunch of buffoons ever say anything remotely sensible or useful? What industry is really crying out for is people who are properly trained in skills and trades, something this country has never bothered to achieve. What society is crying out for, meanwhile, is fewer intellectuals, who have already done quite enough damage to society with their barking mad and deeply nihilistic ideas.

Posted by melanie at October 26, 2003

Comments

"... industry is crying out for more graduates." I think what they mean is that they would like employees to be well educated, able to read and write, understand the basics of law, where milk comes from etc. That shouldn't require a degree if schools worked properly - and even so is probably not enough. I recall with amazement the PR recruiter's article in the Spectator which related how one apparently highly qualified media studies graduate didn't know what BBC stood for!

Posted by: Michael at October 27, 2003 11:19 AM

The best book I've read on U.K. education was "All Shall Have Prizes" by...er...Melanie Phillips.

Posted by: Theodopoulos Pherecydes at October 27, 2003 11:46 AM

For a university administrator to want more people in colleges is just about as surprising as for the chairman of Daimler-Chrysler to want people to buy more cars.

What's amazing is that many people still believe that university profs and admins are some kind of saintly beings, concerned with the common good...

Posted by: David Foster at October 27, 2003 05:04 PM

You'll have to pardon me but from the mouthings of those prized with a "university experience" I remain unimpressed.
Maybe "Secular Madrassas" is more fitting to call the institutions for creating conformity of mind, and certainly not University where critical thought and analysis is required.

Posted by: Barry at October 27, 2003 05:11 PM

Insanity is forgetting to believe a few lies.

Posted by: Davis Nena at January 26, 2004 07:03 PM