Happy Xmas! (Higher Ed Is Over)
From the Times (UK) this morning:
Universities will have to make severe cuts after Lord Mandelson abruptly slashed teaching budgets by millions of pounds yesterday.
Departments are expected to close, degree courses will be scrapped and students will have to pay higher fees.
[…]
The Business Secretary said that universities should move from the three-year, full-time undergraduate degree model towards a “wider variety of provision”, such as foundation and fast-track degrees. They will be encouraged to focus more on the skills and knowledge demanded by employers rather than on academia for its own sake. Those that disobeyed the Government by taking on too many students this autumn will be penalised in next year’s grants at a rate of £3,700 per extra full-time student.
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Hey, we got one of those announcements in New Zealand as well! They must all be working from the Great Book of Timing Tory Initiatives.
Giovanni
December 24, 2009 at 3:23 am
This is why that Mandleson was brought back into the govt. – and he’ll be part of the Conservative govt too – to do the dirty work. Drole timing as well – buried under all the xmas junk….and this is just the beginning. Happy New Year.
steve
December 27, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Preemptive toryism, as I’ve taken to calling it. The crisis is diverted (and perpetuated) by private sector “stimulus” combined with public sector “austerity.” the contours of the last 20 -30 years are now revealing themselves in the fullest form to date…
adswithoutproducts
December 27, 2009 at 5:21 pm
But I refuse to give up hope of an upturn – and not, of course, the economic kind they hallucinate about…
steve
December 31, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Nice to see the return of the foundation degree – the true undead of qualifications – staked, burnt, and yet it never dies… Perhaps it will be the most suitable post-apocalyptic qualification.
Ben
January 4, 2010 at 3:28 pm