I was reading Josie Long’s article in The Guardian today where she argued that University education should be made free in this country. She raised some interesting points and made a great case for how her own University days have helped her in more ways than one.
It got me thinking about the worth of my own education. It’s important for me to point out at this stage that my degree has had inconsistent (and occasionally negative) effects on my employment prospects, so I’m really evaluating my education based on how it has helped me as a person. Josie points out that education at its best is exploring your own humanity. Certainly my time at University taught me so much about the world, and encouraged me to travel and think more broadly about my plans for the future. It has also made me engage with human rights in a more active way than I did before. In terms of my Theatre making, I was shown new ways of working and I am now able to approach performance with an open mind and a wealth of contextual knowledge. I passionately believe in the power of education. I don’t think University is for everybody but I do think viewing higher education as a means to a job is at best naïve and at worst personally damaging. I’m often asked by younger relatives or acquaintances about my opinions on whether University is worth it, when so many graduates are either unemployed or earning less than their non-University educated counterparts. At the end of the day, if your goal in life is monetary then University is certainly not the easy route and I’m unsure whether or not free education would change that; but whatever your goals and opinions, devoting three to six years of your life to the in-depth study of a subject you are interested in, is never a waste of time. I my never earn enough to pay off my own student debt, so it doesn’t affect my day to day life, but I certainly would have been glad of a free degree; and getting rid of tuition fees may at least break the misguided link between University and money.
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GeorgeThis is where I share my views on Theatre and Film, and encourage others to tell me theirs. Archives
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