The university professor who stood up against dumbing down of degrees

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/7332452 ... grees.html

This has been happening for years. I knew university lecturers were complaining about it in the 90's

/nods.

Some of the students I see these days.. Not only are they not 'academically bright', they don't seem to be actually equipped to function in the world on their own at 18. It's almost scarey. It's like there's an entire generation who haven't actually been taught how to be adults.

I think what the Prof is trying to do is excellent and more people should stick their neck out like he has.

Many are not academically suited for university and it is all part of the push to give them degrees.

Power to the prof!

Indeed.

I fully support the idea that there should be no barriers, other than academic ability, to going to university.
I don't support trying to shovel 50% of the population through university as an exercise in showing that people can go to university. It just devalues university qualifications. If every applicant has a 1st then it's basically meaningless.

University is not the be all and end all. Some subjects simply aren't suited to being taught in a university environment and some people, however talented, simply aren't suited to the way that things are taught at university.
Vocational training, apprenticeships and good old fashioned on the job experience are just as valid routes for further education and career advancements/training.

Good on the professor for highlighting the devaluation of university education.

Marking papers means a conflict of interests for universities. Foreign students pay thousands every year, considerably more than home students so I am pretty sure that universities will do their best to make sure they pass and pay...

I have a friend who works for London School of Economics and he estimates that foreign students are at least 80% of the student population there...

I agree. Though the government themselves have devalued vocational raining by making it second class compared to a degree. So polytechnics now call themselves universities and offer degrees in golf course management.

Also if you now do not go to a university then you are deemed a failure. And to make matters worse if you are not academic you will soon have to stay on at school till 18 regardless. I think that if you are not academic that you should be allowed to work as an apprentice and do only a couple of days of school on the basics of Maths and English. I think that kids that are not interested in school should even be allowed to leave at 14 to do an apprenticeship. It should be the only legal way for kids to drop out of school early. Also scrapping unemployment benefit for 16 and 17 year olds would help.

They have to pay to be taught by the university int he first place. I take your point though.

Unemployment beinifit for 16/17 year olds only occurs in special circumstances.

mpThats a load of rubbish. I don't doubt that University's often prefer to take on foreign students before british ones (the way the system is set up who wouldn't) but they hardly "do their best to make sure they pass and pay." Marking is anonymous.

Marking is anonymous but it is not difficult to see who is a native english speaker and who is a foreign student with english as second language.

This kind of thing really infuriates me. The entire education system is based on targets, as is the NHS. It's all failing because people fail to look at the bigger picture. Education is more than rote learning. It's about adapting teachings to the real world and then building on them.

It is because of targets that the entire education system has been devalued. It should be tough to get and A-grade or a first-class degree. It should be a lot of hard work just to get a B or a 2:1. In fact, the system should be set that if you coast through without actually learning, you completely fail. You should not get a C for writing your name on the paper!

But kids of that age should either be on college or have a job, for which government should provide training programs.