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The Forum > Article Comments > Why schools need more than a business plan > Comments

Why schools need more than a business plan : Comments

By Catherine Doherty, published 17/8/2010

Education markets are not the same as commodity markets. A 'good' school cannot indefinitely increase 'production'.

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Education should *not* be treated like a business!
A university I worked for a few years ago had a high intake for courses like "forensic science" because TV shows had glorified the (imaginary) profession. Despite the fact that real forensics were largely trained on the job and the jobs available could be counted on one hand, this course was a "success" in supply/demand terms. In short, it was profitable despite being a complete waste of time for the students and the economy as a whole.
Many courses were actually just fake excuses for wealthy foreign students to gain residency and to prop up the corporatisation of higher education.
The recent trend to "US style" education is baffling: We were world leaders! Why follow a has-been? Do we have enough hereditary wealth to support the brigade of spoilt, mediocre yet socially well connected scions? I think not!
There is a nasty elephant in the room: Modern technology means we don't need more than 50% of the workforce to actually work. We don't need it for productivity...but we do need a method of wealth distribution and "work for a living" is the only one available. How else do you reward activity and punish laziness? Rewarding innovation would be a good start, yet innovation snuffs existing profit centres and so is actively fought against, not rewarded! Many courses and the subsequent "careers" are little more than adult daycare, yet free riding is not a real alternative for society.
Establishing a class system of hereditary wealth, shrinking middle class, and perpetual welfare recipients has been done many times and is is known to be destructive (wealth disparity kills society sooner or later), yet progressive politics has been killed by corporate power. Is dystopia inevitable?
Posted by Ozandy, Thursday, 19 August 2010 11:00:52 AM
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Schools from the lowest primary level should teach development of productive business that generates income and business, and exports if possible.
Posted by JF Aus, Thursday, 19 August 2010 11:13:48 AM
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