“Education is getting better” – but by indiscriminately awarding top grades, aren’t exam boards just aping credit ratings agencies?
“Everyone must go to university” – but since housing crashed when supply exceeded demand, are we surprised the same happened with graduates?
“Studying is always a good investment” – yet if excessive leverage can bring down banks and even governments, should students continue amassing record debts with only wishful thinking as collateral?
Education reform should be a priority. At university level, online courses potentially enable students to better align their programme with their interests and circumstances. They provide welcome competition to established institutions; let’s support them. A “DIY” approach to study is both increasingly possible and often necessary; indeed, many of the best coders are self-taught. We should sponsor entrepreneurship as PayPal co-founder, Peter Thiel, has done with his “20 Under 20” initiative, encouraging smart youngsters to believe in themselves and not to fear failure. And we should drop the snobbery; real-world experience such as travel or volunteering can yield greater benefits than the narrow, rigid and costly undergraduate degree to which we mistakenly still at