Editorial: Wager

The failure of the university and tertiary technical schools admissions system has many interconnected aspects.

The system has failed because it subjects applicants to rote learning and parroting but also because of the results that it produces.

The result is that between 35-40 percent of university faculties are expected to admit students who have not earned passing grades.

That is an historic low and is indicative of the irresponsibility with which the granting of university status to tertiary technical schools was planned.

The apparent aim of the government’s plan was to lower the level of university faculties to achieve parity with tertiary technical schoolS and that entailed a lowering of quality of the educational offering.

Can this be the aim of a country which wants to meet the challenges of the 21^st century?

Can it, instead of continually investing to improve education, undermine even the system’s few good qualities?

The next government must shoulder the burden of pursuing a radical change in a mentality that is fateful for higher education.

Universities cannot operate with only small islets of excellence.

They must provide all students with the necessary skills to build their future with self-confidence.

Students must not feel inadequate in an ever more competitive environment.

Under no circumstances can that wager be lost.