The students are on strike

The students are on strike today in protest of a new $700 fee that is (was) to be implemented in the coming year. I don’t think it would be appropriate to comment on the specific issues, either for or against. I do, however, have some strong opinions both on student action in general and state supported education in particular.

First things first, a positive point in all this. I am delighted that students are taking a serious look at something related to their education. If it takes the imposition of a new and unpopular change to get them focused on just what it is we do here in a University, I am all for it. In fact, I think Admin should make a point of irritating them early and often every single year until the end of time. I’d do it myself.

I say that somewhat tongue-in-cheek but, there is a serious undercurrent to my comment which brings me to the second topic. I believe very strongly in state supported education. Education should not just be the playground of the rich and well connected. It should be for all. Everyone should have the opportunity to be educated up to the level of their ability in a way that is not restricted by the wealth of parents. I owe it to my father, who grew up very poor and was perhaps the first university educated man in his family, to speak in support of my beliefs. He never would have been a project leader on the guidance systems for the Apollo rockets that took human beings to the moon and back without the state assistance he was given as a World War II veteran. I owe it to my smart, but not necessarily rich, students as well.

But state support of education is a complex thing. This country is a member of a very special and in my view elite class of nations which provides free public education to those capable of making use of it. This should be a cause for justifiable pride and may also be an underlying factor in its prosperity. A well educated people is the bedrock on which a nation can stand. A well educated electorate informs the public discourse and directs the activities of government. A highly skilled and educated work force can provide the fuel for efficient and prosperous industries.

But state support of free education is a complex thing. This country is in dwindling company with its unqualified support of education. It is in good company, but this countries peers are becoming scarce. I do not know why that is. Worldwide, countries are, one after another, throwing in the towel and imposing greater and greater fees. Free university public education is being pushed to extinction. Again, I do not know why. My wife’s home country recently introduced fees which would have kept her from studying had they existed at the time she was in school. Like my father’s family, my wife’s family was not rich. She worked part-time jobs to support her education. In my home country, University education costs have out paced inflation for some time and in my lifetime it was never free at the undergraduate level. Exceptional students often win scholarships, but the true bedrock of a nation is its middle class, not its elites.

That said, no cost sometimes invites complacency. A sufficient number of students begin to feel entitled, not only to the opportunity to get an education, but to the trappings of education: degrees, certificates, etc. I would say that the vast majority of my students have no idea the gift they are being given. At their age I had no idea either. It was only a few years after I received my undergraduate degree that I began to understand. I was staring out the window one day and counting my blessings. After life itself came the gift of reading and the education that followed. I still remember the two Catholic sisters (Sister Cynthia and Sister Veronica) who taught me to read. I met my wife and most of my closest friends in school. The education I received opened up a world I would otherwise never have dreamed of. It pains me sometimes to see how some (not all) students really do not take the tremendous gift being given to them by their government seriously.

Although I feel strongly that governments should support education, there is nothing that says they have to be equally supportive of everything. At the institution where I did my Ph.D., the greatest number of students were majoring in Communications. Just what we need, more Americans communicating. In Germany, the favoured discipline among students was Geography. All areas of inquiry, do not need to be supported equally. Nations have needs. Some have critical needs. They should feel good about shaping the direction of the students and universities they support.

Equally, some areas of scholarship are bound to be controversial. Sometimes a scholar has to speak the truth to power. As such, a University needs to keep its independence, sometimes stubbornly to allow new and controversial areas to be examined. It is a University after all. Sometimes, new areas of thought need to be explored which initially are perceived as “not useful.” Such topics rightfully belong in a University. A University should take pride in its scholars and its independence.

And therein lies the rub. Free access side by side with responsibility. Governmental management and academic independence. Student desire for degrees and a nation that wants high standards. A “relevant” focus on regional needs and independent thought. Sometimes all these things do not sit well together and there are no easy solutions.
If anything, I hope the students protesting will begin a more expansive examination of their education. It is at the core of both their future and this nation’s future. Higher education is a complex thing.