When
I tell people who have had nothing to do with universities recently that I’ve
taught British undergraduates who are simply incapable of writing a correct
sentence in English, most smirk in disbelief. Perhaps because I’m a writer of
fiction they assume I’m indulging in some dramatic exaggeration. When I raise
this with fellow lecturers, however, they nod mournfully.
There
is still a mania that everyone should go to university and every endeavour
should be a degree (whether sculpting or golf management). It’s had a very bad
effect on education.
There’s
an “everyone must pass” attitude, which is compounded by the “sick note”
epidemic. The
student who is currently suing Oxford University because it
allegedly “didn’t take her anxiety seriously enough” isn’t an unusual figure.
Telegraph.
