Yesterday's demonstration by the National Union of Students was a perfect demonstration of why I do not believe in demonstrations as a legitimate means of exercising the right to express an opinion. Clearly many of those attending the demonstration had what they consider to be a legitimate complaint. Trebling of the tuition fees is a cause for concern and will cause hardship for a lot of students. Particularly as the last government has devalued the whole qualification system to the point where employers find that a Degree may not be worth a great deal at all in terms of indicating what an applicant may or may not know or be capable of doing.
As a former marker for a university or two, I frequently had difficulty actually making any sense out of what was written in answer to examination questions. It wasn't so much that the students often had only the vaguest grasp of the subject, but that they simply couldn't write a coherent sentence, much less express a cogent argument. Coupled with that, the disasterous bit of social engineering by Blair and co to push 50% of school leavers into universities meant that many of these establishments had to search around frantically to offer degrees and courses these often ill-equipped products of the socialist "(In)Comprehensive" education system, could actually cope with.
Traditionally the British intelligentsia establishment regards the "Arts" (Mainly the esoteric, theoretical, subjects such as Literarture, Philosophy, Divinity, Sociology, Music, History, etc.) as being "superior" to the "Industrial" disciplines such as Engineering. The result is that many of the degrees now on offer are focussed i the "Arts" and include the infamous "general" management degree, the Master of Business Administration, which purports to equip someone with the ability to manage anything from a Hot Dog Franchise to a Space Programme intended to put men on Mars - but without any need to know how either are actually achieved. The trouble is that this is just the most visible of the Degrees on offer which actually equip the holder to deal with very little. There are reportedly people with Bachelor Degrees in Philosophy, and other "Arts," working as 'Fry Cooks' in Burger Bars.
One has to question the value to the Taxpayer of supporting such a degree - and obviously, the value to the student of paying for it. Perhaps this begs a larger question, one which, so far, everyone seems to be dodging. Is it realistic to expect every school leaver to be able to find a place at a university? This was the stated aim of Mr Blair's government. The second, and perhaps more important question is this; Are the degrees on offer, what is needed in the new world order that is emerging? Should we insist that only the "technical" qualifications will be supported in future, and the "Arts" relegated to a lower priority?
Returning to the demonstration itself, it was obvious that the police did not provide a proper analysis of the potential for this o be highjacked by the usual crew of "Social Workers Party" rentamob and layabouts who regard the taxpayer as a personal support for their idle lifestyles. Big deal, the police finally managed to arrest twenty-seven rioters - but if the BBC footage is anything to go by, there are about three or four hundred others who got away with it. They are clearly seen escaping through a glass wall, in full view of the police, their faces covered by scarves and 'hoodies' and they vanish into the mob to the cheers and laughter of their 'friends.'
As someone who grew up in a society where only those who excelled at school and won a 'bursary' or whose parents could afford the cost of university education, I have always believed that a university education was a privilege and NOT a "right." I have two degrees, earned the hard way and very late in my career. In fact I earned my Masters degree only four years before I retired and I still think it was a huge privilege to be able to do so. Frankly, in my view, there is only one reason to attend university. To earn a degree which qualifies you for a role in a workplace. It is not some sort of "social" creche - three years funded by the taxpayer for "students" to have fun, learn to take drugs, confirm their socialist brainwashing and sharpen their civil disobedience skills.
Universities should now begin culling their student populations - raise the pass marl from the laughable 40% and refuse to allow anyone patently not putting in an effort to gain a useful degree to continue. Further, the "Politburo" Soviets of the National Union of Students needs to be reigned in. From what I have learned in recent years about the conduct of these bodies there are some serious questions to be asked about their status as "charities" and a lot of real abuse of electroal processes and misuse of funds.
The sort of behaviour seen yesterday in London is unacceptable in a civilised society and the really worrying thing is that these "students" will, no doubt, soon be seeking to be elected or to join the political classes to become the governors of the future. That should concern us all.
