There is currently a major debate in the United Kingdom about the question of tuition fees for university. It seems that universities in England and Wales will be charging around £6000+ per year. This raises the crucial question of how to pay for tertiary education and how widely available it should be. Political parties are, predictably, doing their best to score points against their opponents but beneath this political cross-fire is an emerging public debate on the definition, purpose and value of a university education.
Various positions are being played out in the letters pages of the ‘quality’ newspapers. For example, the value of technical (vocational) education is juxtaposed with the value of education in the traditional academic subjects. Also, the relationship between higher education and the world of work allows some to call for an increased role for employers in setting the agenda for higher education.
This is an opportunity for a wide-ranging debate on the value of a good education per se and not simply as a training ground for employment. It is a time to set out the value of the humanities and sciences as a field of nurture for the human mind and soul and to share this vision with the political class. To do this requires a degree (no pun intended) of both courage and prudence allied with well-stocked arguments. There is no shortage of good reading material: why not start with ‘The Idea of a University’ by John Henry Newman.
