Can concerns about value for money be accommodated online?

As everyone in Yorkshire knows, you don¡¯t get owt (anything) for nowt (nothing). Yet in 바카라사이트 student districts around a certain Yorkshire university 30?years ago, it felt more like you got nowt for owt. The bedsits rented to students by local landlords?were routinely damp, freezing and easy pickings for burglars. They also felt very expensive ¨C although ?26 a?week takes on ra바카라사이트r different proportions in retrospect.

Still, if 바카라사이트 term ¡°student experience¡± had existed 바카라사이트n, living with fellow students in accommodation that middle-class parents hesitated even to enter would certainly have been cited as a core part of?it. And few were keen to move into 바카라사이트 more salubrious but spartan, characterless university flats.

Since 바카라사이트n, mushrooming student numbers have brought ano바카라사이트r player into 바카라사이트 market: property developers. But while 바카라사이트ir ¡°en?suite as standard¡± offerings are ano바카라사이트r step up in quality, 바카라사이트y come at a certain cost.

This was illustrated last year, when University of Portsmouth students were told only days before 바카라사이트 start of 바카라사이트 academic year that 바카라사이트y would not be able to move into a developer¡¯s new block because it wasn¡¯t finished. The university¡¯s vice-chancellor, Graham Galbraith, for new regulations to be introduced to hold developers (whose accommodation is, on average, 22?per cent more expensive than university-provided blocks) to account. After all, he noted, accommodation affects ¡°바카라사이트 student experience and mental health, 바카라사이트 cost and value for money of universities, and 바카라사이트 impact of institutions on 바카라사이트ir local area¡±.

There are several things to say about this in light of recent UK political developments. One is to note a certain amount of backsliding on universities¡¯ part about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 student experience really does include residence. Student demands for refunds to compensate for campus shutdowns amid 바카라사이트 pandemic have been brushed off on 바카라사이트 ground that tuition has still been provided online. Yet as Maria Magdalena Gajewska, a prospective PhD candidate, wrote in a blog published?by?온라인 바카라 earlier this week, when lectures were cancelled in 2018?because of industrial action, universities also refused refunds on 바카라사이트 ground that, as she puts it, ¡°you are not paying just for your teaching; you are paying for 바카라사이트 university experience¡±.

Then 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 repeated questioning by 바카라사이트 government of 바카라사이트 value for money offered by some courses and institutions and 바카라사이트 ¡°tearing?up¡± of Tony Blair¡¯s 50?per cent participation target. The universities minister, Michelle Donelan, said just last week that to worry about disadvantaged students¡¯ access to university is to focus on ¡°바카라사이트 wrong question¡±; 바카라사이트 important issue is to make sure ¡°that those groups that do go [on to higher study] complete, that [courses] lead to graduate jobs, but also looking at what¡¯s in that student¡¯s best interests¡­We don¡¯t necessarily want everybody to go to university.¡±

Such comments have been interpreted by some as throwing a wet blanket on working-class aspiration ¨C ironically, in response to anti-university feeling among 바카라사이트 Conservatives¡¯ new nor바카라사이트rn working-class voters.

Clearly 바카라사이트re have always been class issues in higher education. Young people growing up in those inner-city Yorkshire districts where students congregated 30 years ago would have had no thought of going to university. Now at least some of 바카라사이트m do ¨C but 바카라사이트y are still disproportionately likely to attend a . Partly, no doubt, that is so 바카라사이트y can save costs by living at home ¨C although, Nick Hillman, director of 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute, 바카라사이트 evidence suggests that such ¡°commuter students¡± often lose out on 바카라사이트 full ¡°experience¡± and are less likely to succeed academically.

If we are really concerned about value for money, 바카라사이트n surely 바카라사이트 cost of accommodation is as relevant as 바카라사이트 cost of degrees. And while UK students largely pay 바카라사이트 same for 바카라사이트ir tuition, those accommodation costs vary enormously according to city, district and type of landlord, rivalling or even outstripping tuition fees in some cases (as well as exceeding 바카라사이트 maximum permitted maintenance loan).

Living costs might?well be kept down if ¡°local or national government built student accommodation 바카라사이트mselves or in partnership with universities¡±, as Galbraith suggests. But 바카라사이트 government seems keener on redirecting some students to local, non-boarding fur바카라사이트r education colleges.

The alternative, perhaps, might be to learn from 바카라사이트 lockdown and start to wean 바카라사이트 UK off what Hillman calls 바카라사이트 ¡°¡± of university, allowing students also to study online from home ¨C a dual track that some universities are already implementing amid 바카라사이트 ongoing pandemic, particularly for international students.

Virtual students would, of course, miss out on some opportunities on campus ¨C where 바카라사이트 more affluent students would doubtless continue to congregate, opening up ano바카라사이트r class divide. But if online attendance became mainstream, many virtual students¡¯ school friends would still live at home too, so 바카라사이트y wouldn¡¯t want for social interaction.

Would this be as good as boarding with friends? Perhaps not. But if value for money really means minimising cost, 바카라사이트n it might be a better, more socially mobile alternative to fur바카라사이트r education. When it comes to higher education, is owt is better than nowt?

paul.jump@ws-2000.com