Frankly,it’s damn rude of a government to devalue those interested in bigger-picture thinking. I’d go as far as suggesting that increasing HECS fees for arts-based subjects is punishment for those not buying into neoliberal views. Especially when a HECS debt of about $45,000 (the rough figure my daughter’s facing,not including the costs of moving from a regional home to a city to study) might stretch out to a life-long burden.
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Not only is it backwards logic to charge the highest prices for those courses that are less likely to set you up with a high-paying career (a point made by everyone from my nephew to the Productivity Commission),but surely we want to encourage deep and contextual thinking?
This is especially so in our era of quick-fire social media opinions and increasing mis- and disinformation. At a time whenteachers are being told not to bring politics into the classroom,I reckon we need more people who understand the difference between political leanings and the complexities of history. For instance,introducing students to both the reasoning behind the creation of Israel and the impact on Palestine is not politics;it’s education.
If we cease to value thought and scholarship for scholarship’s sake,we might as well all give up and leave our world to AI businesses that are happily ripping off original thought in the name of profit.
We don’t always know what will come from study for study’s sake. When my father pursued a degree,then PhD,in the 1960s,pure maths was seen to have little real-world relevance,yet it is now appreciated for the transferable skills to fields such as computing and economics.
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Who knows what jobs will be available by the time my daughter finishes her degree,which may or may not include history,English and Indonesian,subjects her amazing (public school) teachers inspired her to explore. Either way,as someone looking set to achieve a high ATAR,I think she should be celebrated for choosing arts over options that academic kids often feel pushed towards.
The truth is she has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up and,at 18,I reckon that’s OK. In fact,it aligns with the idea of studying humanities which,instead of being about concrete certainty and measurable outcomes,is about asking questions and probing possibilities.
I hope the current government reverses “job-ready graduates” as part of its review of the Australian Universities Accord,which is investigating the quality,accessibility,affordability and sustainability of higher education. Yes,that’s partly on a very selfish level as I don’t want my daughter to be burdened by study-related debt,but also because young people shouldn’t be punished for asking big questions about our world.
Vivienne Pearson is a freelance writer. Her writing lives atviviennepearson.com
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