Seems perfectly logical to me. The Queensland Institute - oops, sorry - University of Technology should teach Technology!

This raises in my mind a much larger issue. Too many students “brave the long trek” to study courses which could be more conveniently and far less expensively conducted online. All students who are after a BSc or BA because they need the piece of paper should not be sitting in lecture theatres with 400 other students furiously writing down as much of what the lecturer is saying as possible. The university campus should only be for those capable of doing research. The rest chasing the piece of could be enrolled in courses conducted on the Internet. I came to this conclusion after over a decade of hiring science graduates [who had been full-time university students] for routine laboratory work and discovering that not one of them knew how to think.

I would expect the average BA student to be a better thinker than the average BSc student, but science now knows so much about the foundations of life that no humanities person can legitimately discuss anything without having a good understanding of scientific concepts.

I completed a Bachelor of Laws/ Bachelor of Arts (Hons) at a QLD University 4-5 years ago.
About two years into the degrees it became apparent to me, as well as to the vast majority of my peers, that the course we were studying was highly repetitive and lengthened considerably by subjects that gave us absolutely no practical skills. For example, we were forced to complete subjects such as ‘Law & Culture’, and ‘Indigenous Law’ which were more opportunities for lecturers to push the ideological envelope than prepare students for actual practice. It appeared to me that academics, who by and large had only ever been academics, had lost sight of the fact that most students attend university to obtain employment and not become political activists.

Compacting everyone’s frustration was the fact that once we finished our $30k law degrees, we actually had to attend a Legal Practice Course in order to get a basic practical grounding before becoming solicitors! Meanwhile, at Bond university, law students were completing degrees in half the time (sure it was more intensive but the learnt on a need to know basis).

Since entering the workforce, I have become more and more convinced that my experiences at university weren’t isolated nor specific to me. The Howard government was absolutely correct in trying to force through voluntary student unionism and is absolutely correct in trying to make universities focus on teaching practical skills and implementing technically based courses.

A very sensible move, saving money and time spent on dills who did/do BA’s because they are not bright enough to do a useful degree, or whom mumsy and daddy insisted should go to ‘uni’ because it’s the in thing.

At the very least, the exclusion of BA’s would see a drop in production of left-wing nutters – a highly desirable end in itself

My the barbarians are out in force today.

Thanks HoHum

I knew I could rely on a lefty, pseudo intellectual to patronise us ‘barbarians’, and admonish us all for our lack of culture. After all, who needs an education regime with any real practical application?!

Leigh

You’re, as usual, of the mark with your unqualified rant about Arts degrees. There is no doubt that many BA’s are useless and filled with material of no real use. Having said that, some arts degrees incorporate languages and history subjects that compliment other practical degrees very well