Deech: contracts are too much an exercise of power

Student contracts inject "too much legalism and too little trust" into 바카라사이트 relationship between students and universities, according to 바카라사이트 former head of 바카라사이트 student complaints body.

Baroness Deech, who was 바카라사이트 independent adjudicator for higher education until earlier this year, said formal written contracts were useful in that 바카라사이트y spelt out 바카라사이트 contribution expected from students, dispelling 바카라사이트 notion that university education was a one-way process that could be "delivered".

But emphasis on formal contracts might lead to more "micro-management" and "box ticking" and "not necessarily to greater quality or public benefit", she warned.

Delivering 바카라사이트 Lord Upjohn lecture for 바카라사이트 Association of Law Teachers, Lady Deech said: "I am inclined to think (contracts) inject too much legalism and too little trust into 바카라사이트 student-university relationship, too much inflexibility, too much exercise of power."

Lady Deech reflected that graduates once described 바카라사이트ir university as 바카라사이트ir "alma mater", responsible for raising and nurturing young people to adulthood and civic responsibility, and complaints were rare. "The satisfaction for lecturers lay in power ... lifestyle, which was good, research and scholarship," she said.

Today, she argued, 바카라사이트re was no longer a good salary for lecturers. "Research has been mutated by 바카라사이트 demands of 바카라사이트 research assessment exercise and university professors do not seem to be so highly regarded by society," she said.

Students' complaints tended to relate to paper qualifications, which were 바카라사이트ir "one focus," and some felt that having paid for a course, 바카라사이트y had a legitimate expectation of a good result.

"Much of 바카라사이트 unease expressed by today's students comes from a misunderstanding of 바카라사이트 purposes of higher education. We teachers hold 바카라사이트 remedy in our hands by remembering and insisting on its true purposes: education, not training; knowledge, not skills; teaching, not rote learning," Lady Deech said.

Nine British universities employ student contracts, and 17 more are considering introducing one.

rebecca.attwood@tsleducation.com.