A significant majority of academics, professionals, students and members of the public severely condemns the use of higher education as a commercial product and the legitimization of a trade-oriented definition vis-à-vis the government’s intention to grant approval for private universities/ higher education institutes. This paper intends to examine whether and how private higher education could empower or disempower the Sri Lankan youth as claimed by parties who strongly advocate and condemn it.
Although private educational and higher educational institutes are not a new phenomenon in the country and has been a controversial subject throughout, the government plans to increase support for the establishment of private universities and the reluctance of the professional medical bodies to grant approval for the newly established private medical college in Sri Lanka has given rise to a great deal of heated debate. However, there is an explanatory gap in the discourses advocating and opposing private higher education in Sri Lanka for they seem to be obsessed with logistical and monetary aspects of the problem.
The present study advocates a philosophy of empowerment through education and taking ‘empowerment’ as the basis for analysis; it intends to answer the question posed in the title: Can private higher education (dis-) empower the Sri Lankan Youth? However, my concern is not singular based on the understanding that what could empower one segment in any community could dis-empower another segment of the same community. To suggest this, in my title, I add the prefix ‘dis’ parenthetically before the word ‘empower’ and the phrase, a question mark is parenthetically to the phrase, ‘a degree for sale’, a reflection of the popular S...
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...government universities resulting from the strengthening of the private higher education industry. Interestingly, various informants, throughout the course of interviews, asserted their disillusionment with the deficiencies in the public administration of the country including the higher education and doubted the extent to which ‘quality assurance’ would work in the Sri Lankan context. However, on the whole, the findings of my research can be used in future policy making in Sri Lankan higher education especially because it seeks to document the perspective of the students which seems to have been ignored at the moment in planning higher education policy. In other words, the preoccupations and the constructive criticism from the parties concerned can be made use not only in policy making for private higher education but also in educational policy making in general.
As the article suggested there is an increase in the requirement of a higher education to maintain a well-paid job although, there is an “avalanche of over-qualification” (177) in the workforce. The author indirectly indicates his audience, as being academics of all ages in the university system. The author evokes emotional stimulation from his audience as he stated, “[t]here’s still a reason to get an education! It’s just not anything to do with education” (177). Further indicating a debate regarding the stance of the education system being a business rather than pleasure organization. Through playful language, the author is able to maintain the audience's interest and persuade them into solely seeing the education system as a system with bearing resemblance to the democratic system. Relying on all three rhetorical appeals, the author truly utilizes his language to convey a distinct tone and voice from his argument. Appealing to his audience, the author uses this article to inform them of a false consciousness many academics seem to have, as it is the tendency to believe and define oneself in support of the very system which oppresses them. The bases of the authors argument are to grasp the view of the majority of the scholars and push them to think the same way he does as a
Today in American society, one feels pressured and obligated to seek higher levels of education. In the article “College prepare people for life” written by Freeman Hrabowski, he expresses his views on the many aspects in which college prepares one for their life; especially, financially. Having a college degree increases ones ability to get a job in comparison to somebody who has solely a high school diploma. However, many are faced with the irony of having to go into to debt, in order to work towards financial independence and security. In terms of socio economics, those who are stuck by poverty often cannot afford going into debt to exit their current ranking in the qazi caste system of poverty. Many argues that college prepares people for life, however one can disagree due to
In society, independent learners are those who seek to further their education to the next level. In the article, “Why We Are Looking at the ‘Value’ of College All Wrong” by Valerie Strauss, Christopher B. Nelson argues that people can’t compare economics with receiving a higher education. Individuals who look at college from an economic lens view education the wrong way. Instead, individuals should look at the bigger picture, which is gaining an education and taking in the knowledge.
In his article “A Rational Optimist’s View of American Higher Education”, Dr Lane A. Glenn discusses his vision concerning higher education in America. Inside the article, he explains and also re-futes the principal reasons why today, some people doubt of the importance of higher education such as colleges and universities in America. Glenn is writing to an academic and public audience in order to in-form them about what is happening to the education. His main claim is that receiving a higher education is still valuable.
The critical challenge within in today’s society is that college tuition should be free or if not free, more affordable for all students. Certainly, higher education should not be considered a luxury where only the wealthy could afford, but an opportunity for all caste systems. It must be an accessible and affordable opportunity for all students in order for them to invest in their education. Higher education is important because it provides more careers to choose from than the careers offered without having a college degree. Ultimately, the issue here is whether it is right to make college tuition more affordable for the students.
In a letter to columnist Ann Landers, a college professor wrote about his views of the education system. He feels that universities have turned into businesses where teachers are just looking for money and students are just looking for a piece of paper with a title on it. He says that the students of today think they are automatically entitled to a degree because they pay tuition (Depressed Old Prof. 3-B). Adding to the profit motive for schools is the government which, for the p...
The biggest question or dispute regarding the cost of higher education is finding the appropriate monetary and economical equation to determine the percentage of personal and public responsibility. The above debate has been in question since the 1800’s when Thomas Jefferson stated; "I think by far the most important bill in our whole code is that for the diffusion of knowledge among the people. No other sure foundation can be devised, for the preservation of freedom and happiness ”. Those important words that called attention to the importance of having an educated citizenry in order to preserve democracy are until this day, words by which legislator...
Unfortunately, the purpose of the education system, as seen in most institutions of higher education, is in fact to instill in people the notion that they are incapable of learning. The standardization of education highlights the underlying assumption that people “cannot learn without a pre-determined set of institutionalized options forced upon them” (Kyhall. Online).
Community colleges and universities all belong to higher education, but actually they do not have the same requirements for their students. Peter Sacks is a college teacher. With Sacks’ teaching experiences, he believes that “nobody in the system had much of a stake in shoring up educational standards” which shows his dissatisfied about the current education system. Sacks thinks higher education should only be provided to students who can do excellent job on studying. However, only a few universities hold their applicants to this high requirement. Indeed, the phenomenon that Sacks finds is correct, many community colleges and universities have low requirements for students, but Sacks does not see the good part of this low requirements. If higher education includes different requirements, more people will be able to accept better education than high school, and this will be helpful for themselves and society.
Education is such a thing that is much more valuable than any other worldly materials. It is the gateway to the knowledge of life and the way of living it. When talking about gaining an education, people can get it from two ways either by experience or by learning in educational institute such as a college. Experience happens naturally, but learning in college requires voluntary action. Everyone has his or her own opinion about college education. Many experts have shown their interests in this subject. College education is much often debated regarding its worthiness and importance. Many people have the perception that students who receive more education are more likely to experience a better future and a better quality of life but some denies
Many significant questions regarding higher education are in relation to its cost, raising fears that higher education has become unaffordable. Education fee for universities and colleges has continuously grown to become one of the largest expense for most students and parents over the years, especially with the never-ending dramatic tuition fee increases resulting from public funding cuts for education by the federal and state governments. Selingo (para 3) reported that higher education cost definitely has a direct impact on access, thus, the frequent increases in cost are logically of great concern to many, including parents, students, and education policymakers. In other words, this has disadvantaged the poor families, resulting in unequal education opportunities for Americans and putting attainment of higher education in danger of becoming a hereditary privilege rather than a right for all people (Selingo para 6).
Schooling for ages 5 to 14 is compulsory in Sri Lanka. The five stages of education in Sri Lanka include: primary, junior secondary, senior secondary, collegiate and tertiary [8]. Even though Sri Lanka claims a total adult literacy rate of 91.2% and a total youth literacy rate of 98.15% [9], it still faces challenges in its free education system. One of the main challenges Sri Lanka faces is tertiary education pressure. The tertiary enrolment ratio is only 6% out of which only 2% are full-time students (refer to Appendix 2). Also, there are only 13 universities with the capability to admit 13,000 students annually against the 75,000 students requiring admission each year. A large number of students seeking free education in state universities are being denied admission due to limited places available [10]. Talking about free education in general, children from financially stable families tend to stay longer in schools than children from poorer backgrounds (refer to Appendix 3). This is because of the other costs apart from tuition fees like uniforms, transport, stationery etc. [11]. Mr. Rohan Senarath, the Executive Director of Coalition for Education Development and former Save the Children in Sri Lanka programme specialist for education sums up the reasons for such problems in his article which includes: teacher biases/personal choices, struggle for lower income families, family mind-set of supporting
Education is very crucial part of my life. There is a rapidly growing demand for a higher education in the nation’s economy. Although a higher level of schooling is difficult to receive, the rewards
Social institutions are an important element in the structure of human societies. They provide a structure for behavior in a particular part of social life. The five major social institutions in large societies are family, education, religion, politics, and economics. While each institution does deal with a different aspect of life, they are interrelated and intersect often in the course of daily life. For example, for schools to be able to exist they rely on funding from the government. This is an intersection between politics and education. Social institutions affect individual lives through other aspects of society such as culture, socialization, social stratification, and deviance. This paper will focus on the social institution of education, and how it affects individual lives through socialization, deviance, and social stratification.
Higher education debate is a controversial and hot topic for politicians in the United States due to the price associated with higher education in the country. State lawmakers regularly worry about the rising cost of attaining a college degree, and lowering the debt burden to the student. Consequently these issues have been turned into a talking point during the presidential campaign trail. The pressure on the amount of tuition paid has not only been seen from the government but also from the families, which have shown reluctance in paying the high tuition fees. Public universities 'which have attempted to increase the fee' have come under heavy scrutiny despite the reluctance of the state to invest in higher education (Holmwood, 2011).