We need to stop treating universities and other institutions as for-profit businesses- and we also need to fire the people with this mindset and replace them with actual scholars and educators.
The university’s been the home of intellectual life for a long time, but I think there’s no reason to assume that it will permanently reside there. Perhaps it’s moving on and it’s taking us a while to overcome mental inertia. Not that your frustration is unwarranted, William. I can imagine your pain.
Happy to see woke post-modern cultural studies crap go (Marx, Foucault, Butler etc), but yes, actual languages and linguistics should remain. The student visa immigration scam has destroyed our universities, they are now dependent on it for revenue.
The Australian University sector has been in trouble for quite some time. Overseas students have provided a lucrative source of funds. However that particular golden egg laying goose is about to be sacrificed due to concerns about immigration. We have not seriously thought about the purpose of our higher education system for decades and very soon we won’t be able to put off that conversation any longer.
I think Australia has thought about the purpose of higher education and concluded it’s to make money. If Australians are under-educated or unskilled it doesn’t matter.
The whole economy depends on immigration and increasing property prices. I would be very very surprised if any government substantially cuts immigration, no matter how much public support there is to do so.
I do not think there is an agreement on what “skilled” or “educated” means. Universities seem have acquired a commercial imperative in a fit of absence of mind (and VC greed).
So the government "revises" the targets for net overseas migration and then admits anyway the universities can exceed this cap. From the article:
Universities Australia chair David Lloyd was optimistic about the changes. “We can say we’re open for business as a nation, there’s no legislated cap, and there’ll be equity of prioritisation for all institutions,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean you only get 80 per cent. Above that number, you will just get processed at a different rate. Technically, you can exceed 100 per cent if you wanted to.”
The phrase "open for business" is telling. This is nothing but greed.
We need to stop treating universities and other institutions as for-profit businesses- and we also need to fire the people with this mindset and replace them with actual scholars and educators.
The university’s been the home of intellectual life for a long time, but I think there’s no reason to assume that it will permanently reside there. Perhaps it’s moving on and it’s taking us a while to overcome mental inertia. Not that your frustration is unwarranted, William. I can imagine your pain.
It is sad. I don't see another home for the intellectual life. Commerce has devoured all.
Happy to see woke post-modern cultural studies crap go (Marx, Foucault, Butler etc), but yes, actual languages and linguistics should remain. The student visa immigration scam has destroyed our universities, they are now dependent on it for revenue.
Yes, we can still get dumber.
I'm not looking forward to it.
The Australian University sector has been in trouble for quite some time. Overseas students have provided a lucrative source of funds. However that particular golden egg laying goose is about to be sacrificed due to concerns about immigration. We have not seriously thought about the purpose of our higher education system for decades and very soon we won’t be able to put off that conversation any longer.
Let the mayhem commence.
I think Australia has thought about the purpose of higher education and concluded it’s to make money. If Australians are under-educated or unskilled it doesn’t matter.
The whole economy depends on immigration and increasing property prices. I would be very very surprised if any government substantially cuts immigration, no matter how much public support there is to do so.
I do not think there is an agreement on what “skilled” or “educated” means. Universities seem have acquired a commercial imperative in a fit of absence of mind (and VC greed).
Also: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/go-slow-visas-to-provide-quick-fix-for-ballooning-international-student-numbers-20241218-p5kz7w.html
So the government "revises" the targets for net overseas migration and then admits anyway the universities can exceed this cap. From the article:
Universities Australia chair David Lloyd was optimistic about the changes. “We can say we’re open for business as a nation, there’s no legislated cap, and there’ll be equity of prioritisation for all institutions,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean you only get 80 per cent. Above that number, you will just get processed at a different rate. Technically, you can exceed 100 per cent if you wanted to.”
The phrase "open for business" is telling. This is nothing but greed.