3000 more uni places

Posted to The Age (17/1/2012) on 17/1/2012 at 12:17 PM
Commenting on "3000 more uni places"
http://www.theage.com.au/national/tertiary-places/3000-more-uni-places-20120116-1q3a5.html

Having a degree from a university or college that offers higher qualification does not guarantee that graduate actually earns his/her mark.

Many universities of today are no better than a college with a facelift. TAFE and private colleges that offer Advanced Diploma as the highest qualification can no longer survive. Some have transformed into high-ed institutions offering degree courses, even though they are NOT universities.

The numbers game does not necessarily produce academics or achievers, but on the contrary it makes top students average, and unjustifiably lifts the non-deserving ones at par with the top graduates.

It is disgraceful that university standards have been lowered to improve pass rate. Plagiarism is so prevalent and close to epidemic proportion. Students pay professionals or past year’s students to complete their assignments. Hardworking and top performing students are frustrated by lazy and good for nothing team members in team project work; and unfortunately the genuine students’ outcome is affected negatively.

Australia needs more tradies, NOT university graduates who cannot fix plumbing, electrical works, or build houses. There are not enough upcoming tradies to replace the retiring ones. Whether it is about fixing a leaking toilet cistern, building a house, laying out NBN cable, etc, tradies’ charges will continue to soar unless more qualified tradies enter the workforce.

We MUST lift the educational standards from primary level onwards. A smart nation needs smart people. Unfortunately with our country is run by not so smart politicians, things will never work out!

Am I cynical? Yes I am.

Visa rule reforms give universities a lifeline

Posted to The Australia (23/9/2011) on 23/9/2011 at 3:14 AM (Not published by Newspaper)
Commenting on “Visa rule reforms give universities a lifeline”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/visa-rule-reforms-give-unversitieis-a-lifeline/story-fn59niix-1226144082762

Previously, some TAFE's and private colleges messed up the international education industry. They issued certificates to undeserving students, and fed sub-standard students to universities. When government polices changed in July 2010, many TAFE’s and private colleges started to offer degree courses.

The change caught many foreign students off-guard, and for those who hoped to apply for permanent residence after graduation had no choice but to enrol in the “high ed”. While the average number of foreign students may have fallen about 10% as reported during the last calendar year, the real figures in the second half was very much higher. After the announcement of the bad news regarding the changed policies, more than half of the potential foreign students mainly from India and China turned to other destinations, creating a big financial blackhole for the states and Australia. USA and UK benefited from another idiotic Labor’s policy-on-the-run, costing billions of dollars of “export income.”

The proofs are in the closure of many colleges and the slashing millions of dollars from the budgets of TAFE’s and universities. Many full time and sessional teachers, (including myself with 16 years of teaching/training experience) and administrative staff have been laid off. The proposed reform is nothing more than just following what UK is offering. It is important that the Government must NOT make another mistake. Overseas IELTS assessment should be treated with great caution, because money can buy good results in some countries.

I have written to newspapers on many occasions regarding prevalence of plagiarism in colleges and universities, but without any luck in getting my comments published. Some students do not have the English skill of a lower secondary student and yet they can get through the system studying Diploma courses.

Many foreign students are no better off than the asylum seekers queue jumpers trying to apply for permanent residence via the Visa loophole. The Government should not provide blanket Visa approvals and the right to two years of work after graduation. In order to be granted such privilege, students must achieve good scores or grades.

For goodness sake, don’t wreck the higher education industry!