The holy grail of university education.

studentphil

You see this all the time with baby bonds and savings acounts for kids that you must save towards their "Uni" education. Or parents of 6 year olds saying they aim for their kids to go to "uni". It seems puzzling why all other modes of achievement and education are placed secondary to this thing that "Uni" is a must for so many.

juno

well, you don't pay for pre-uni education, so it would be pointless to save up for that. and to say "i'm saving up for Bob's ACCA exam" or "TIA A+" etc is a little narrow. So "uni" is just general.

Or is that too much of a sensible answer?

Morglin

If students want to go to Uni, then it costs a lot of money (especially with grants etc., being cut), so it makes sense for parents to save money to help with this, as they do in America.

Lin

Hapless_2

None of my kids are going to go to Uni if I have to pay. If they want to go, they can pay for it themselves, I'm not a bleeding bank! Eldest only wants to go to agricultural college as opposed to Uni which I am pleased with. For one thing it's free, and for another she will be quite happy shovelling horse muck all day.
I doubt if my kids will go to Uni. If they want a degree they can do what I do, an open uni course. It's a lot more taxing that way as you have to study yourself, discipline yourself and work it around family/work etc.
If kid gets a uni degree then the degrees become worthless. There are so many mickey mouse degrees around these days, down here we even have a "surf science" degree !!!!!!! A degree that no self respecting surfer would touch with a bargepole. The only entry qualifications are an ability to swim and any grade of A-levels.

TITEASCRAMP

My 6 yrs can do what she chooses. All want is for her to be happy

IvanOpinion

University is not a holy grail for some ... it is simply a place that they go so that they can while away a few years on a useless irrelevant course because they can not be bothered to get a job.

Personally i think we should be encouraging the rise of the apprenticeship again providing skilled workers.

Ivan

Hapless_2

IvanOpinion wrote: »

Personally i think we should be encouraging the rise of the apprenticeship again providing skilled workers.

Ivan

Proper apprenticeship though, not the modern excuse for an apprenticeship. My niece went for a modern apprenticeship and found she had only 1 day at work and 4 in the classroom, I don't know about you but that is not my idea of an apprenticeship!

absolutebounder

Some jobs you cant do without university education but there are other ver highly paid jobs that you can do with next to no education. Many captains of industry either have no degree or are not using the one they do have.

Barcode

If a child is obviously bright, or expresses an interest in academic subjects, then I cannot see the huge problem with suggesting that university might be an option. Parents save to help their children with property, weddings, and other things I am not thinking of - university is no exemption. Obviously, if there is an expectation, then that is probably not a good thing, and more reflects the expectation of the parent than what the child wants.

I come from a lower-very-working-class background. I discovered very quickly that university was expensive, and nobody was going to help me. Even with loans, living in London (I went to UCL first-time around) proved very expensive - to the extent I dropped out, worked, saved up, and paid my own way to get to where I want to be.

I don't begrduge those with parents who can contribute; but I do hope that most appreciate their education. I've met some people here who are breezing through, oblivious to their work, secure in the knowledge that rich-Daddy will land them a job. I'd like to think that if I had a child, and they went to uni, they would at least appreciate any assistance, and not think the world owes them.

devoncat

My dad was the first in his family to go to uni-my sister and I were the second and third. It was never a question of "if" we would go, but where. My parents appreciate education and have instilled that value in me. I have just completed my PhD and see no time in my life when I will not be taking some sort of class-language courses or adult ed from the local college.

I read a book called something like The Twillight of American Culture. The author advocated "elitism for all". Basically that everyone should have the opportunity for a rigourous, but free education. That education and knowledge are valuable in their own right. I believe this as well.

For some reason, you get very polarised responses to uni. When my dad went, his family were VERY proud that this kid from a poor farming community made it to uni. Now, there is not such a response and many people feel uni is a waste, not something to aspire to. There seems to be a bitterness about uni that was not present when my dad "made good". There seems to be a backlash against university.

I think education, intelligence, and knowledge can be aquired anywhere. And it is correct that uni is not the be all and end all of education. Yet, it can be part of it-as can trainee programmes and other options. There are choices and that is what we should be proud of.

[Deleted User]

blah blah blah, SP is still !!!!y he's done nothing with his qualifications

I don't even have kids yet, but when I do I will want them to eventually do a good course at a good university unless they have a very good alternative to what they plan to do when they are 18. I will also financially assist them if I am in a position to do so.

You'll only go as far as your aspirations. If your parents bring you up to believe you can be a doctor/solicitor/banker/architect then you'll have a better chance than if they think you could be a library assistant or a bin man.