UNIVERSITY RATIONING

SINCE the late 1980s the proportion of young people in Britain attending university has risen from 14 per cent to more than 40 per cent today. The lower figure was a disgrace for a nation that claimed to be a world leader in many respects; the current figure is not exceptional by the standards of most developed nations yet it is now under attack from many quarters because of the overall cost involved in educating so many to university standard. That is also a disgrace because it suggests that Britain is complacent about the quality of its young people as they enter the world of work. It is especially surprising to find the Confederation of British Industries supporting the view that too many young people are getting university standard education at too great a cost. Do not the businessmen and women of the CBI ever find themselves in competition with companies from other countries whose technical, financial, commercial and management staff are noticeably brighter and more effective as a result of their educational opportunities than their own personnel?

None of the foregoing is to suggest that there are no problems about funding for university education in Britain today. But it is to say that the easy solution of reducing the size of what is on offer is just further evidence of the class structures in Britain that still dominate education and the workplace and prevent some of the best talent being developed as it should be.