Polly on Academia

Polly Toynbee spots the issue:

The survey finds that a
new generation of students will be more demanding – and perhaps more
disappointed – once they feel they are paying for it themselves.

And just think how much more demanding they would be if they were paying the full cost? At private institutions capable and allowed to change their ways to react to that demand? Privatise the whole system, obviously.

Yet another Tory policy that Polly agrees with then (it was, after all, William Hague who suggested this).

One response

  1. Yes and universities will be in for a big shock! they have trouble dealing with a government telling them what to do, and are usually adept and keeping politician’s hands out of running universities. But the power of the market will just blow them away.
    Its got to be welcomed as HE is such a supplier-led industry, its time for a big big shakeup.
    In fact the universities could be well run as social enterprises or nonprofit companies. They could operate a commercially successful mass undergraduate programme whilst funding other important things where they have comparative advantage such as areas of research etc.
    I have witnessed many universities resist any attempt to reform what they do to be more in tune with the needs of the economy, jobs market and business. Boy, are they in for a shock now!
    Polly talked sense – but something tells me that she didn’t know what she was saying.
    Ah well I am sure as hell glad I got all my HE out of the way now! a London mortgage is bad enough without £50k of student loans on top!

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