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Arthur Figgis · June 4th 09, 05:27 PM posted to uk.transport.london,uk.railway

wrote:
On Jun 4, 4:32 pm, Tony Polson wrote:

Unfortunately, if you change within three decades from sending 20% of
the population to University to sending 50%, it is almost inevitable
that standards will have to drop. They have, and how!

It's inevitable that *the standard of the median graduate* will have
to drop.

This always seems to flummox 'grumble grumble, things were better in
my day' codgers: yes, of course the average graduate is 'worse' on
some measures than the average graduate 25 years ago. But that's
trivial and irrelevant. The questions a

1) are the top 40% of present-day graduates 'better' than the average
graduate 25 years ago?
2) are the bottom 60% of present-day graduates 'better' than the top
37.5% of non-university-going school leavers 25 years ago?

If the answer to those questions is yes, then education policy (at
least for the top 50% academically) has been a success. Given that all
measures (including international skills comparisons, not just
qualifications) show the median adult is indeed more skilled than 25
years ago, that's a strong sign that the answer to both questions is
yes.

AOL.

Modern opinions of media studies and the like are quite tame compared to
what some Victorians thought about dumbing down by introducing subjects
like engineering. :-)

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK