This post carries on from the last but is separate because I want to get a bit more philosophical.
I believe a lot of the problems arise from making the simple mistake of confusing "rights" with "should". We all have a right to further education but that doesn't mean we should all receive further education.
As a society we are failing when we think that attendance at university makes better people. Universities serve a purpose, which is one of education, and it should be aimed at results rather than simply assumed to be something that is good to do. Not everyone is cut out to be a vet or a doctor. That doesn't make them any better or worse. Actually those that do go to university can get very confused over this important detail, and then they can end up believing that they are better than those who don't attend (this is so drummed into them at an early stage, "you are in the top 0.5% of the countries intellence" etc that it isn't exactly their fault that the world becomes somewhat distorted).
Society needs to learn how to work for the individual and to recognise that each and every one of us is different. "I am not a number" is true in so many ways. To value what each of us can provide and not to rate each other based on what we do. To find ways to encourage peole and make them feel successful based on their needs and their desires, not to make them feel failures because they don't conform. Respect for our fellows shouldn't be based on their education.
So, yes, everyone should have the right to further education, but that doesn't mean that we should set a target and push people towards something that is not going to help them in the future (and may also end them in more debt, but that's a different blog). Give people the right to go, give them the freedom to decline.
1 comment:
I'm not sure all university students feel better than everyone else. I remember being told when I did A-levels that I was in the top 5% of the population, but nothing like that at university.
Also, I think more and more university students are actually starting to wonder if they're mugs for paying all this money for a higher education and discovering they're not necessarily in a better employment position than someone who got on the job ladder 3 years earlier on. For doctors and vets I'm sure it's more straightforward, but for people with less voational degrees it is much less clear cut.
I'm not sure about people leaving school at 14 - it seems very young to give up on education. I do support a more varied approach to education at that age though - we need to provide a valued and valuable educational experience for those who are not academic.
I also love the way you say "society needs to learn how to work for the individual" - I would phrase it entirely the other way round - though I think that's what makes us so different politically...
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