I've said it before and I will say it again, for the rest of the herd to consider: College Education is a Luxury.
It is imposed by society that college education is a right, to allow young people equal opportunities in finding work. How foolish! Would it be impossible to survive in this world if you are no better than a secondary level graduate? My observations speak otherwise. I know very many people who didn't receive college education because of poverty and a great many reasons. Are they successful? Depends on how you would define success. Some define success by personal accomplishments. Well, if you put it that way, yes, most of them are quite successful. Some people can define success as liberation from their previous state. Well, we can say that some of them are wise enough to be financially unburdened today. So, even without college education, they survived.
Why must I repeat ad nauseum the claim that college is a luxury? The society must recognize that college is not that vital for survival; instead, one must see that college is for those who actually wants to LEARN specific things. A person must not be forced to study in college, in fact it should be promoted that these people think of alternative ways to furnish their creativity at places that aren't as confined as the campus. College should only be for those whose desire is to learn, with or without the influence of his chosen future profession. It is only for people whose love for knowledge drives them to seek it, irrespective of its practical values.
Why should be there limitations such as those said? Of course, one must know that as a student, you are not a subordinate to anyone, you are a CLIENT. You pay these institutions to give you the knowledge you want to have, and not those diplomas the society wants to see posted in your bedroom or cubicle(but of course, that's part of the package). It's not about having the proof of your education, it is having the actual knowledge etched in your mind. The err of society is thinking more of representatives and icons of who you are, not who you are in actuality. You could be the dumbest doctor with a license to practice. God save those who check up under you. And you could be an undergraduate, but your vast knowledge and your drive to seek more had enabled you to contribute to the society with your powerful mind.
As a client, it must be added that allowing slacker students -- who aren't actually studying -- to still enter that institution should be seen as a violation of the other students' rights. It should be noted that when they go to school, they take up space and use up facilities (even destroy them) that should be saved for those who are going to utilize them for the sake of knowledge. They waste the services of professors, and they waste the tuition fee paid by their parents for them! If they don't want to study, no one should force them.
Also, it could be the college's fault. Some, maybe most, schools think of it financially-wise. They think of it as more money! Yes, more students mean more money, but that is also directly proportional to the decline of quality education. And the parents don't see it that way that they allow their kids the environment that isn't conducive for learning.
Then, what of the work force? Well, they must study in a low cost vocational school, similar to my previous university. They have three-year technician courses there with fair facilities for the price. If a person wants to study just for work, go to that kind of school.
Now, how do we change the society's view that college is a right and not a luxury? Change the educational system and promote a new method on job applications. The educational system should suit the needs of those who obviously wants to study, and give slackers a limited time to change or be expelled immediately. For job applications, companies should check the intellectual and psychological capacities of the applicants. Those who work at the human resource department must see what the person can actually do, not what his papers say and just because he's cute and savvy. Quality control in both the school and at work.
DMF 090403
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