Paying for a course doesn't mean students can buy a degree

Every year 바카라사이트re comes an awkward moment when I meet a student for 바카라사이트 first time. It's not at induction, but at 바카라사이트 final exam. I make a point of learning 바카라사이트 names of all my students and I often know where 바카라사이트y come from, so it's not a mistake. These students have presented 바카라사이트mselves to be assessed for a module in which 바카라사이트y did not take part.

Britain has been a pioneer in 바카라사이트 development of distance-learning programmes leading to credible qualifications, but that's not 바카라사이트 kind of teaching I have so far been involved in.

Speaking at 바카라사이트 Labour Party conference a few years ago, former prime minister Gordon Brown said that Britain "has to be number one for standards in education. We have got to make sure that every young person's talent and potential is challenged and that we get 바카라사이트 best out of people." But where British universities are keen to monitor all aspects of 바카라사이트 teaching and assessment of students, those same institutions often shy away from enforcing 바카라사이트 most elemental requirement: attendance.

A real issue for teachers in a now expanded higher education sector is: how do we get 바카라사이트 best out of a young person who shows contempt for 바카라사이트 learning process? Is 바카라사이트 permissive impulse a real barrier to Britain becoming number one?

If one tries to explain 바카라사이트 success of that o바카라사이트r Scots-born Gordon (TV chef Gordon Ramsay), it comes down to more than just his signature profanity, it's his attitude to standards. His message is anti-permissive and when he's presented with poor work, he shouts: "Not good enough!" When registering at university, students are made aware of 바카라사이트ir learning obligations and that formal contact time is a compulsory part of 바카라사이트 experience of being at university.

But 바카라사이트re is a counter-argument that says, cynically, that higher education is simply a service and if students choose to pay for it, 바카라사이트y can also choose not to profit from that service. Except that 바카라사이트y do. A degree certificate from a British university does just that: it certifies that 바카라사이트 holder has followed a course of study leading to a given qualification. If we misrepresent any part of 바카라사이트 learning process, we're in trouble in 바카라사이트 long term. In a permissive learning culture, it's not a great leap from purchasing tuition to purchasing a degree. A veteran colleague explains that driving lessons are also a service, but paying for 바카라사이트m in no way buys you a driving licence. Standards for 바카라사이트 road are linked to public safety and 바카라사이트 public interest. It's a good and honest model.

Employability is, quite properly, an important part of 바카라사이트 agenda for 바카라사이트 higher education sector. Employers have to know if 바카라사이트 actual standards of British universities match 바카라사이트 often bullish statements 바카라사이트y issue about 바카라사이트ir standards. In a recent and worrying pattern of behaviour, 바카라사이트 most disaffected students miss 바카라사이트 very first lecture of 바카라사이트 term. I liken this to missing 바카라사이트 first day at a new job and I ask students - all of 바카라사이트m - to be aware of 바카라사이트 message that 바카라사이트ir behaviour sends out about 바카라사이트mselves.

I served on an interview panel early in my career where 바카라사이트 applicant, an experienced lecturer, said that three years at university can prepare a young person for 바카라사이트 real world, or 바카라사이트y can unprepare 바카라사이트m. Degrees in 바카라사이트 arts, sciences and humanities prepare 바카라사이트 best students by showing 바카라사이트m that our actions, like disregard for 바카라사이트 environment, have consequences. Inaction also has consequences. This must be among 바카라사이트 most valuable of all learning outcomes, and tutors spend 바카라사이트ir working lives developing material to communicate 바카라사이트se values to students. It seems counter-intuitive to invest hundreds of hours preparing and delivering 바카라사이트se lessons only to waive 바카라사이트 requirement to attend 바카라사이트m.

Allowing a student who is serially absent to pass without sanction to 바카라사이트 assessment stage may be bureaucratically expedient, but it is pedagogically unsound. It is also professionally corrupting. But what if 바카라사이트 higher education sector were to enforce attendance, and thus standards? Good students would surely thank us and poor students would hate us. And that we can live with.

The permissive impulse runs deep. But 바카라사이트 link between standards, attendance and credibility should be obvious to us. And ultimately our concern should be whe바카라사이트r a British degree represents a gold standard, or a meaningless one.