Credentialism high

A question naturally follows; why not simply have the student with his laptop at home rather than café-style lounge in a multi-million dollar building? This question raises a bigger question: why was it not seen 10 years ago that online education would be the major component in tertiary education so that the huge capital expenditure on universities in that 10 year period not be anything like what it has been?

In this country university education is consuming time and money on a massive scale. We don't seem to be noticing that self-employed plumbers, concreters and the like are earning substantially more than the average university graduate. We don't seem to be noticing the number university educated car salesmen and university educated real estate agents and the PhDs with knowledge of such low economic value as to be only able to find employment (when not driving cabs) in the universities themselves.

With the internet as your guide, there is a vast range of beautifully illustrated books available to satisfy the restless mind. The only addition required is an agent (such as U3A) to bring the local kindred together to brainstorm. We need to honestly determine what education delivered face-to-face on a high maintenance university campus is essential to society's needs.

But, cutting back on high maintenance university campuses won't solve the core problem if online university courses go on to consume countless hours of the lives of the young people of this nation. The culture needs to cease viewing the degree as the necessary documented proof of having a brain.