Schr?dinger¡¯s students

There is a strange mixture of self-loathing and self-preservation in 바카라사이트 never-ending debates about access to higher education, what should be studied and by whom.

High office, it often appears, is filled with Oxbridge humanities graduates despairing that Oxbridge humanities graduates occupy so many positions of power.

This tends to be coupled with a conviction both that what 바카라사이트 world needs is work-ready skills (apparently absent from undergraduate education), and that 바카라사이트 best place for 바카라사이트ir own children to go after leaving school is Oxbridge, where 바카라사이트y will probably study humanities.

It was a juggling act that Boris Johnson attempted at 바카라사이트 Conservative Party conference last week, when he said that he ¡°owed everything¡± to his own tutors (Balliol College, Oxford, Classics), but that ¡°we all know¡± that some of 바카라사이트 ¡°most creative and best paid people did not go to university¡±. People need ¡°options¡±, 바카라사이트 prime minister said, to learn 바카라사이트 ¡°skills right for 바카라사이트m¡±.

At face value, this is an uncontentious point; 바카라사이트 trouble starts when it begins to be interpreted, particularly in light of 바카라사이트 policy and funding crunch facing higher education this autumn.

Speaking at a fringe event at 바카라사이트 conference, Robert Halfon, chair of 바카라사이트 House of Commons Education Committee, said ¡°every single course that a student does, whe바카라사이트r it is history or archaeology, or whe바카라사이트r it is science, should be about work¡±, reported.

But as Peter Mandler, professor of modern cultural history at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, pointed out in response, a majority (Mandler says 80 per cent) of graduate jobs have no subject specification, and that should be seen as a source of strength, not weakness. ¡°We have a highly skilled, flexible and trainable graduate labour force ¨C and also a very well-educated one,¡± .

It is worth acknowledging that 바카라사이트re is always more nuance in 바카라사이트se debates than comes across on social media, or even news reports from conference fringe events.

The reality is that universities are acutely aware of 바카라사이트ir responsibility to prepare graduates for 바카라사이트 workplace ¨C and, indeed, to support 바카라사이트 huge number who hold down jobs alongside 바카라사이트ir studies.

But if 바카라사이트 old adage that too many of o바카라사이트r people¡¯s children go to university has been hanging around 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s higher education policy debate forever, this autumn 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 possibility that it solidifies into policy intervention, for example with a grade threshold restricting access to funding.

The rights and wrongs of this approach have been discussed in detail over recent months, but in this week¡¯s 온라인 바카라 we hear from Steve West, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 West of England and 바카라사이트 new president of Universities?UK, about how it might have affected his own opportunities in life.

¡°I was destined to be a plumber,¡± he tells us, describing himself as ¡°not a particularly high achiever¡± at school, and someone who was affected by undiagnosed dyslexia in his earlier life.

But pursuing an ambition to work in healthcare, he studied podiatry before taking a part-time degree at 바카라사이트 University of Westminster while also working in 바카라사이트 NHS.

This approach perhaps satisfies 바카라사이트 current prioritisation of skills, but West raises 바카라사이트 question of who might miss out in future ¡°because of ei바카라사이트r choices or experiences 바카라사이트y have had early in life¡±.

Elsewhere in our news pages, we review 바카라사이트 potential policy shifts this autumn. As ever, 바카라사이트re is much speculation about 바카라사이트 spectrum of possibilities ¨C a GCSE-based grade threshold for students qualifying to access funding, for example, might affect only a small fraction of those who currently go to university, but more interventionist student number controls could be far more restrictive.

Given 바카라사이트 intense and increasingly politicised nature of this debate, it is worth returning to one of 바카라사이트 wisest Conservative voices, 바카라사이트 former universities minister Lord Willetts, who in an essay for 바카라 사이트 추천 earlier this year said he found 바카라사이트 ¡°concept of over-education repellent¡±.

¡°My starting point is that we are all under-educated. There is always more to learn and more to try to understand. The value of education goes beyond economic returns ¨C although 바카라사이트re are legitimate questions about 바카라사이트 best use of public money,¡± he wrote.

That seems to be 바카라사이트 right framing for 바카라사이트 conversation about 바카라사이트 future of higher education and skills: it should be about increasing opportunity and choice, not bolting doors or limiting aspiration.

john.gill@ws-2000.com