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If you voted LibDem, do you sleep at night?
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roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #1
10-12-2010 11:47 PM

I still think the main issue is about the number of young people attending uni these days compared to before. I am a great believer in greater access to higher education but did not feel that the Labour approach to increasing the intake was a good thing nor do I think that everyone needs to go to university to make a living or to fulfil themselves but this is what has been pushed on everyone hence in order to maintain the status quo these fees are being charged. There is still a lot of respectability in learning a trade and skill and learning on the job but these things seem to have taken second place to getting a degree. I've often wondered why all nurses have to have a degree these days when the best nurses I have come across have personal skills that you will never learn on a degree course and can never be bought other than by life experience. Why academicise something that does not need to be academic?

In addition as someone said on Question Time last night, the delivery of higher education is changing and there is more emphasis on distance learning and block learning and even more sandwiched or concentrated courses over a shorter period. This hasnt really featured anywhere in the various arguments so it would seem to be quite a missing part of the bigger picture.

I took out a student loan some years ago to do a post grad course and I was one of the first students to do so in the UK. The university I went to couldn't really cope with self funding students as many of us complained about the standards of the lectures, the lack of preparation of the staff, and the frequent cancelling of lectures due to staff having too much to drink the night before. We wanted value for our pound but rarely got it. The culture of the university could not cope. Students were suddenly customers with clear ideas of what they expected for their money. I daresay that this may have changed but I really doubt if its that much to warrant paying £9k.

I would therefore love to see students getting value for £9k worth of tuition fees and to find out whether any course is considered value for money. Many probably arent and therefore may not be taken up. Its also an issue that students will want a return for their money so unless they have have a chance of becoming decent earners ie lawyers, doctors, why would they want to take that risk on something less certain?

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RE: If you voted LibDem, do you sleep at night? - roz - 10-12-2010 11:47 PM