Think Twice Before Trashing Higher Education

With videos such as Why I Hate School But Love Education entering the debate over the value of education, is there a danger that this backlash will become little more than the latest internet trend, just another outlet for the adolescent need to rebel against the mainstream? In secondary schools throughout the country, the forever repeated message that ‘a university education is the only way to prosperity’ is being rejected. However, the valuable question is not whether this is right or wrong (that is an individual choice). The valuable question is why, and what the consequences may be.

Obviously, the rising cost of a University education has led to a re-evaluation of a value of a degree and The Guardian reflects that the number of UK applicants dropped8.9% after fees tripled for 2012 entry. Arguably the availability of bursaries and means tested loans has cushioned the financial blow for many and, ironically, the middle classes have been hit hardest.  But that’s another story.Before 2011, a degree was viewed as a commodity, but as Suli Banks reiterates “as the cyclical and seemingly never ending debate about education rages on, the topic - somewhat ironically, often poses more questions than it provides answers.” Clearly, people have begun to question the generally accepted view that a degree will make your life easier and is the only way to succeed. However, this has the dangerous potential to undermine education generally, rather than a degree as an institution. While non-Univeristy paths to future success are as valid as they always have been but, truthfully, I am unlikely to be a Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerburg/ Richard Branson success story. The real issue here is the root justification for rejecting higher education: the focus on cost and money. Yes, a degree may lead to a higher average annual salary, but will it not also provide an enriching experience over 3 years to broaden one’s intellectual horizons? Is that not why Universities were first created? Is that not the main motivation for applying?It is inherently wrong for society to value education in relation to money. Universities were created in order for intellectual exploration and to engage in the privilege, and pleasure, of learning. Education itself should be seen as valuable, and not simply a means to an end.In fact, can the rejection against ‘society’ be reduced down to the- dare I say it- ‘hipster’ fashion of rejecting the mainstream, that ironically has become so mainstream? It would be a travesty if this superficial attitude that values the controversial over reality actually undermined the value of education. Yes, one can succeed without a degree, but what if people fail to see the distinction between having a degree and beingeducated? Aristotle understood, Hume understood and Suli Banks understands: ‘my campus is my mind.’ The attitude that a University education is not the only way to success is perfectly correct, but it still remains that education in itself will always be inherently valuable.Whether education is achieved through experience, reading, individual reflection or preferably all three, education will always reign as the track to success. Let’s just hope that while it is ‘cool’ to undervalue institutions, education itself won’t lose its ancient sanctity or be reduced as a means to a Bentley. 

MISSING

On the morning news, another story of a missing girl beams across the headlines, as the nation rallies together to find one little girl.  But I can't help but think about all the other people who go missing every day: children, mothers, brothers, uncles, fathers. What about them? I can't imagine anything worse than losing one of your relatives or friends, and just not knowing where they were, or if they were safe. Missing Kids UK reveals the shocking fact that "In the UK, a child goes missing every 3 minutes." Every 3 minutes.That's shocking. 

In situations like these the power of the media becomes devastatingly clear: one image donated by desperate parents becomes an icon of the search mission, the investigation. But what it really represents is a missing life.

 But one has to ask why we recognize the image of April Jones or Madeline McCann before any other of the hundreds, maybe even  thousands, of missing children in the UK. Obviously, the media can't cover every single missing persons case, but it is just so sad that while that one image may be an icon for all missing children everywhere, it only lasts a week. Or two if they're lucky. Why is it that so many people can go missing without a trace, and that their story doesn't ever reach a national audience?  Do the children worthy of national coverage always have to be pretty, young, female and white?  

April Jones Hotline: 0300 2000 333.
http://www.missingkids.co.uk/

Nice one Michael

Once upon a time Michael Gove thought it would be a great idea to entirely restructure Great Britian's education system without consulting anyone... well, not the Lib Dems, the unions, teachers or most of Parliament.  

Is this yet another example of coalition reactionary politics, another attempt to keep national satisfaction out of the red regardless of the future ahead? It cannot be coincidence that this news comes a month after a disastrous summer for examination awarding bodies. But what is the real problem? Are too many people getting 10 A*s, are they too easy, are they too modular or are not enough people getting basic qualifications? Either way it seems unlikely that turning back time to the 1950s is really the best way forward. If even Margaret Thatcher recognised the flaws of the old system why regress back?

 As a student who has gone through GSCEs and AS, of course I know the system could use some reform but the issue is very simple: to get an A you do not have to achieve 90%, instead the gifting of grades is entirely manipulated for statistical gain by the relative success of the whole country. How can any qualification be equal or fair when the success of a candidate is not based on their sole performance but the proportion of A,B,C and D grades that the awarding body wants to give out?   

This isn’t a solution. It is merely reactionary and cowardly to literally sweep a problem under the carpet by giving up a clearly successful system and whipping up a storm so great that the calm afterwards will not be a magical land of fairies, unicorns and A grades, but more children getting lost in the system.

Elections 2012: Anger to Apathy

Wading through the controversy and petty arguments between labour and the coalition, the 2012 local elections really revealed the truth about the UK public's view of politics. Well, not politics, but our government specifically. Looking back to the beginning of the month, the seemingly insignificant vote of our local representatives proved how disillusioned the country really is- a 32% estimated turnout, according to the BBC the lowest since 2000. The question that we need to ask is what is it that is Cameron doing wrong here? Yes, we're not on the precipice of economic and entire meltdown here a la Greece, but the entire country seems disinterested.

Is an element of apathy creeping in to voters like second hand smoke, the product of disappointment and a lack of a voice? But, more importantly, how had labour won 823 seats?Their highest success since 1966. Have people forgotten the travesty of Blair following Bush blindly in to Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003? The conservatives are not to blame for this recession, the irresponsible lack of control labour had over the banking sector is. I'm  not supporting the conservatives here, but labour is no longer the worker's alliance of Edwardian England, they are not the good guys here. It seems that it is so easy to be fickle and shove blame on to the current government, but is advocating unstable governance really helping anything?

 If you must reject the government, don't reject politics entirely. Exercise your mind, keep hold of your beliefs and don't let apathy take you. Use your vote.

Does it matter if you're black or white?

Recently, there have been fresh waves of accusations levelled at police institutionalised racism after the summer riots and the Stephen Lawrence case but a new report published this week on the 2011 summer riots suggests that it is society that needs to be changed, or rather being given a "stake" in it. 


The summer riots, supposedly triggered by the murder of Mark Duggan or perhaps against society in general has prompted an independent report to recommend greater oppourtunities for disadvantaged people, better criminal rehabilitation and improve police-public relations. But as Nirpal Dhaliwal argues, is this all there is to it? Is this really just a case of rich whites vs. poor blacks? This week there were three convictions for the shooting of the five-year old girl, Thrusha Kamaleswaran in the spine, causing paralysis. This did not elicit the rage that Duggan's murder did. It wasn't murder, she wasn't part of an infamous gang. What is the difference? The fact that the crime occured within the black community, was not a product of police brutaltity? 


If disallusionment at the lack of oppurtunities in society are the main problem - does it really matter if you're black or white?

What is Post- Murdoch future of the media?

For a while now, I have been more irritated by the way the media has been tirelessly covering the Phone Hacking Scandal than by the crimes they are actually reporting on. It's as if every other journalist has felt the need to jump on this self-righteous band wagon as if to prove their own wide-eyed innocence. When, ironically enough,the whole industry was probably vaguely aware of what was going on in the first place.


 Don't get me wrong, of course every story News International hacked open was so completely and utterly sick, but why did this even need to happen? Milly Dowler,9/11 victims, Hugh Grant - Why? Who cares about medical records and affairs? Sadly,the answer is we do. Our nation's inexhaustible hunger for scandal, celebrity sex and drug deals has fueled Murdoch's empire for years and has contributed to what the morally bankrupt system News International is today- or rather was.


But, for me, the big question that still remains is why phone hacking has transpired in to such a huge scandal anyway - when everyone has known for a long time that this is where tabloid newspapers find their stories. Perhaps News International was just a ticking time bomb sticking to a system which sells but eventually had to end when the world decided to open their eyes.Yes, journalism is about exposing the truth, but not truth that tears families apart, interferes with police investigations or gives parents hope that their little girl is still alive. Surely it is time for responsible journalism. 


After all this I still feel left thinking: do I really want to enter this world, do I want to become a writer, a journalist, a vulture? This scandal may have permanently scarred the reputation of British journalism forever, but after really thinking about it, this has actually made me more determined to become a writer, to become a part of the new media, post Murdoch. 

The changing nature of protest . 2011- Year of Revolution?

When I first heard about the protests in London at the end of last year I thought it was great. People were finally standing up to Government cuts, for what they believed in, and what they won't accept. After all, what is more important than education?


But after the graffiti A symbols began to appear around London, among the fire and the broken glass, my heart sank. What began as a protest to conserve an vital part of the British State, became an opportunity for balaclava-clad anarchists and public school boys alike to swing from flags and leave a trail of destruction cleared up by those who are actually subjected to job cuts. 


But then something happened to put it all in to persepctive. First Egypt, then Tunisia and Yemen and Libya- protests began spreading across the Middle East,bringing the realisation that petty conflicts in an incredibly fortunate Western society are comparatively insignificant. Students are not protesting for their freedom or livelihood in the same way rebel forces risk their lives. 


Egypt got their way, a moment in history, but as more and more blood is shed elsewhere and more lives are lost, Civil Wars are developing.  I feel quite sick that I ever felt excited by marches in London.


Protest in principle is a good thing but when shallow graves are being dug and men will not leave power, protest is war and destruction. The cause is right, but the consequences are so huge. People in Syria are fleeing as others fight for freedom. I was wrong, this is so much more than protest- it's bloody revolution.