UK

Why Education For The Poor Has To Be Free

Education blogger

Educational qualifications can be, and often are used to maintain the status quo – the existing social order. When I lived in the Netherlands, you had to have qualifications to be able to open a shop. Sounds fair enough, you might say, but the exams were only available in Dutch, which is not one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world.

If Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods, wanted to open a shop in the Netherlands, he would have to learn Dutch or circumvent the regulations by hiring local managers.

While I can see the need for people (shop keepers in this case) to provide evidence of an understanding of the law of the land, some countries take it too far. They make education a weapon of class warfare.

After all, it allows the ruling class to say that they are only trying to raise standards, while not providing the means for the poor to reach those standards. By not providing a universal education, they are in fact ensuring that the best jobs stay with the richest families.

There is a subtle way of modifying this scheme so as to make the gentry look innocent – they can put schools in every village and then stock them with low-grade teachers by making the wages and conditions awful, and simultaneously open the universities to all who have reached the requisite level of education.

This method also keeps the riff-raff out but allows the rich to maintain the illusion that a university education is open to all. This is the most common tactic in the Developing World.

In richer countries like Europe and America, the glass ceiling is put in place by making higher education expensive and offering ‘cheap loans’ to students who wish to continue their education.

In the UK, at the moment, the cap on university fees is about $14,000 per annum, so after a typical three tear course, a student comes away with a degree, which is no longer a guarantee of a job, and a $40,000 overdraft.

That is enough to deter the riff-raff too.

So what is the solution to this subtle form of the poverty, or at least, the social status trap?

Means-tested grants used to work just fine.

A student has to be able to embark on an educational course without having the distraction of worrying about money. Rich kids don’t have to worry about their finances at or after university, so why should poor kids? Let’s make it fair.

Britain as a whole had this enviable system for decades, but Scotland is the only country within the UK to maintain it. Welsh students have to pay something, I think, but not as much as English kids.

This will probably result in more Scottish and Welsh graduates per head of population than English ones in the near future. The Celts will love that, but it doesn’t seem fair on the English working class.

One of the reasons why Lek in ‘Behind The Smile’ did not stay at school was because the family thought the the cost seemed to be too high for the benefits that they could see it delivering. This is not the state’s direct fault, but it does result from a lack of ambition in people who have never known anyone in their family go to university.

Behind The Smile : ISBN: 978-1-475-21688-2 : Published by CreateSpace 19-4-2012 : Paperback and eBook.

Is School Equipment Important To A Child’s Education

Education blogger

School equipment is one of the most basic things that all schools require. Anything from learning materials such as stationery, exercise books or sports equipment to school furniture and facilities, and also safety and maintenance equipment. This article explores various opinions on school equipment and why it is important to learning.

Certain equipment, such as pencils, pens, or paper does need to be replenished on a frequent basis and are known as consumables. Other equipment such as tables or electricals tends to be much more expensive and there can be reluctance to replace them even when it is necessary. This is especially true now that schools are given very tight budgets from councils and the government.

According to a recent study carried out by BBCs Newsround, the news service for children across the UK, school equipment may not be fit for purpose. The study asked children their general opinions on the equipment and furniture they used. The responses were surprising: Almost all children reported serious problems. These ranged from broken, uncomfortable chairs, damaged tables, equipment that is unsuitable or too small. It seems as if headteachers do not realise how unhappy children are with the equipment they use which is a serious concern.

Another very recent debate about the quality of school buildings versus the quality of teaching was recently posted. The new education secretary Michael Grove announced that the new school building project and the BSF Building schools for the Future set up by the previous government would be cancelled to save money. But many people have argued that this means children will need to use outdated equipment in an educational setting, while others have said that the buildings as long as safe are effective enough. Whether they have considered the effect on existing furniture and equipment remains to be seen.

The recent credit crunch, recession and general lack of money in public sector spending may become a serious problem for schools with limited budgets. A typical budget for school equipment must be spread across everything from site equipment and maintenance to teaching material for children. While some of the material may still be adequate from the point of teachers, they may fall short of health and safety or quality standards set by UK and EU laws.

While the conditions of the buildings themselves are perhaps not the most important, unless of course they fall below the minimum standard, the equipment itself must always be fully functional and up to the minimum standard. School equipment can be purchased from large educational suppliers such as The Consortium. School equipment are some of the fundamental building blocks to a childs education, and combined with effective teaching can be a very important step for any child. Schools can save money by negotiating for bulk prices of items, especially expensive items such as educational furniture and searching for the best prices possible for any item. Any school budget, especially for schools which are having difficulties financially, should be carefully planned and set aside to be spent on items which need the most investment and replacement.

Strong Online Education Marketing Essential In Attracting International Students

Education blogger

UK universities are working tirelessly to attract foreign students. The recent cuts to the education sector announced by the government are set to cripple UK universities who will have to make huge savings to help plug a 950 million gap in funding over the next 3 years.

The average cost for non-EU student undergraduate courses is set at 10,000 per year, however given the fact that UK universities have to make huge savings this is likely to reach nearly double that depending on the type of course or the universitys reputation. Therefore, it is clear to see that UK universities have a lot to gain from increasing their overseas recruitment.

To ensure that universities have a chance of attracting new students, they need to ensure that they have a strong online presence. Recent research states that 31.7% of the 338m internet users in China are students. This research suggests that most international students are already using the internet, primarily to find out more information about UK universities.

To help UK universities build up their online education branding, here are few tips to ensure that you are making the most of the internet as a resource and are targeting the right students:

Localised research can help to identify a students needs from a university.
Ensuring that the right subject is marketed to the right nationality is crucial and very likely to attract international students. For example arts, media and psychology is popular with the Japanese so it is best to market arts, media and psychology courses to students in Japan.

Highlight key phrases which are set specifically to the target market.
Making sure that these key phrases are implemented successfully into the site is essential as it can help to dramatically improve your search engine optimisation (SEO) particularly with regards to attracting new international students. A useful page to have on your website is the universitys ranking as it can help influence the decision making process of students particularly in China where the prestige of the university is very important.

Social network sites are an active way of targeting specific international students.
A vast majority of social network users are young people (aged 16-24). Again, it is important to keep in mind the locality of the market. Despite the fact that both Facebook and Twitter maybe the first social networking sites that spring to mind in the UK, in China www.renren.com is particularly popular amongst students.

Despite the fact that the UK is currently ranked 2nd for attracting international students behind the USA, it is getting to be a very competitive market with other countries launching their own international recruitment marketing campaigns. Given the recent changes in UKs student visa policy, it is vital that UK universities focus their efforts on upping the ante in terms of their international marketing.

Therefore it is vital to ensure that they embrace the recent advances in technology into their education marketing strategies.

Distance Learning UK Universities Offer Quality Education To Nigerians

Education blogger

Education is an essential factor that influences the growth and progress of a particular city, state or nation to a great extent. Thus, a desire to see your nation at the top position can only be fulfilled if proper learning platform is provided to the citizens. In most of the cases, it has been found that in spite of having an above-average intelligence level, several individuals are unable to pursue their education because of the unavailability of proper learning facilities. Distance learning process has been introduced for the individuals who, due to some reasons, could not attend their regular campus classes. Inability to attend regular lectures ruins the career of even the students with extra-ordinary brilliance. The mode of distance learning gives the students with multiple level of intelligence, a fair chance to build up their career in a desirable field.

Traditional mode of imparting education via campus classrooms was restricted to a certain limit, as as result of which, several career aspirants residing in remote areas of the world with a desire to pursue their advance studies were left behind. The main aim of the educationists behind planning for the emergence of distance learning technique was to take those career-oriented individuals into its fold who remain out of the reach of conventional learning process. The role of UK universities in Nigeria can be quoted as one of the best examples in this context. However, with the name and fame that these universities have gained in imparting regular programs, they have acquired a cult status in the academic arena.

Though UK universities in Nigeria were recognized as reliable source for imparting quality education via regular means, it was difficult for the people to believe that they would gain the same fame in providing online or distance education too. The main reason that compelled the people to think in such a way was the unavailability of any direct interaction facility between the instructors and students. But with gradual technological developments in the educational field, web or video conferencing techniques evolved, with the help of which the UK universities in Nigeria try their best to make this learning arrangement as effective as possible.

The pass-outs from the distance learning mode, after the completion of their respective courses, showed such tremendous performance in their corporate field that the recruiters never even have to think for a second while appointing a distance or online learner for a prestigious post of their organization. Their record breaking performance did not only enabled the employers to get out of their hesitation that they faced earlier, but also changed the mind of the people, for whom distance education was simply a platform for below-average learners so that they could earn a degree for namesake. UK universities in Nigeria played a great role in helping the career aspirants structure their career to achieve their desirable goal.

Distance learning arrangement has come up as an effectual source with the help of which the Nigerians got an opportunity to pursue their courses conveniently despite of the socio-economic or political and communal tensions that the nation very often experienced. UK universities in Nigeria follow a standard curriculum, which is subject to changes as per the transformation introduced in the professional market trends in order to help the learners be updated all the time.