A less elitist vision for education

 

Cambridge Corpus Christi College: wonderful education for the few

We all believe we are experts on education, because we have all experienced it. Unlike, say, going to sea, or exploring Antarctica, we have not only suffered from it (or enjoyed it) but we have also had a chance to reflect on it (because most of the people who talk about education have ended their own formal education). Those in full-time education usually have experience of little else.

So, what can we say about education? Firstly, education in the United States and the UK is like a private London club. Entry to the elite institutions is very exclusive, reserved for the rich, and becomes self-perpetuating. Attempts to democratize education have usually foundered as a result of externalities. In the UK, the abolition of grammar schools was accompanied by the rise of comprehensive education. But comprehensive schools don’t mix all classes. They are largely restricted by catchment area. I lived in an area of Oxford that comprised the catchment area for The Cherwell School. Its results were considerably better than other schools in Oxford, almost entirely because of its wealthy parents in the catchment area.  

Higher education has similar external restrictions. The elite Ivy League institutions in the US are all private. Admission to these institutions is becoming steadily more expensive in real terms. A review of recent books on education in the TLS reveals that “Yale spends $166,000 annually on instruction per student, while its neighbour, Southern Connecticut State, spends $15,000”. Does that represent the respective value of the education provided? Hardly.

Here are some suggestions. Education as a set of credit vouchers, the same value for all. Full-time courses replaced by part-time and online classes, on smaller, more focused subjects. Lifetime education provided by universities who split their role between research and teaching – and don’t pretend that those who research can teach. An end to undergraduate education at Oxford and Cambridge, or perhaps each college has to choose between one or the other, but not both. A genuine attempt to end the elitism of UK higher education.