Monday 13 June 2011

Grayling, Dawkins' and Company's Inspiration

This disgusting coterie of greedy faux-liberals is planning to open a for-profit educational establishment which - beneath the glitz of celebrity's 'teaching' a couple of hours per year, seems to be a finishing school for the ultra-rich, a bit of culcha with classes like 'entrepreneurship' thrown in before daddy gets them a job in the City. The degrees are actually the standard University of London External ones available to anyone.

It doesn't have to be this way. London had a thriving alternative educational system: the Central Labour College provided tuition for those who distrusted the ideological slant of existing providers: bright workers were sponsored by their trades unions. There was also the University Tutorial College, which ran for almost 100 years, offering tuition for UL degrees and other qualifications. Despite sounding rather iffy, H. G. Wells worked there, it had proper science labs, provided decent support for workers who couldn't afford the standard student lifestyle, and was one of the few institutions which allowed women access to university degrees in a time when they weren't admitted to most institutions.

Oh yes, and it didn't charge £18,000 per year.

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