If yet another malicious union tribunal wasn’t enough to
further disillusion the ordinary student from the pathetic
self-important joke that is Oxford student politics over the
vacation, the latest shenanigans regarding fees probably did. Not only do further childish and futile campaigns that
don’t represent the student body at large continue to go on,
but the NUS posse seems hell-bent on screwing over the economy
for the sake of 100% equality of opportunity. “No to tuition fees, no to topup fees, no to graduate
tax, yes to a non-means-tested living grant for every student in
further and higher education”: these are the wishes of
incoming president Kat Fletcher. That means yes to an escalating
surplus of unneeded graduates, yes to further depriving the
economy of essential vocationally skilled workers, and yes to
every degree student leaving with an even more worthless
qualification. The democratic result of the recent OUSU referendum, to solve
the funding crisis by decreasing student numbers, is spot on.
Restoring the value of an academic degree by making intelligence
a factor again whilst promoting ‘accessibility to all’
is surely reasonable. After all, everyone deserves the
opportunity to attend university – provided they’re
good enough, that is. That excludes a large chunk of predominantly arts students in
institutions at the lower end of the league tables. Such
candiadates are likely to be better off in the world of relevant
vocational courses or apprenticeships than becoming yet another
‘spare’ graduate. As for tuition fees, it is baffling that many who complain of
being skint spend the vacations voluntarily dossing instead of
productively earning; only to while away the term whining
constantly about their overdraft limit whilst treating themselves
to a night on the town every other day. Higher education is a privilege for those who deserve it, not
a right for all.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004
Thoughts of the Week…
