Quota
DemonSpawn
Date:
17/10/2004
So I'm back with another column for you to read, agree with, disagree with, remove from your browser, etc. etc. Just remember the rules, no SPAM in the mail please. So if you don't like what you read, don't read it. I'm all about free speech and free thinking, and questioning things around me.
I've been questioning a lot of stuff lately. It seems to be the curse of a critical thinker. Also the reason why I can't really do anything normal anymore. You know, like watch TV, read the newspaper, practice my religion, write music, drive around the countryside and take in the view. Because it all comes down to questions.
Like, why is it that in Varsity (name omitted to prevent any law suits), my work gets marked not on the strength of its content, but on the weakness of other students? I mean, I'm not stupid, and I get really good marks for most of my subjects. But I can't help but notice that there's this whole political thing going on at the Varsity. The lecturers are stuck in the middle. On the one side, you've got the Student Union, pressuring for all sorts of kak, on behalf of the students. On the other side, you've got the bureaucrats running the show, pressuring for all sorts of kak on behalf of the State. Both the State and the students want the same thing but for different reasons: to pass.
The students want to pass, but their education before Varsity was so bad they can't even construct a sentence properly. So they pressure the lecturers for notes, for easier modules, for less assignments (which makes absolutely no sense at all), less strictness in marking, less work, etc. etc. They don't consider the fact that what little stuff they do in Varsity is not going to be worth shit in the real world.
Now the State has another agenda. The State just wants to pass as many non-white students as it can. Now, that's one thing on which my views are very mainstream. I think that's a really good idea. I think all the kids who were oppressed during the apartheid era should be recognised and given a chance to make something of their life. I think that racial tolerance is something that should be taught in schools, so no matter what your parents say about other races, you still get the liberal version of the truth.
Now, I'm not into politics. In fact, I hate it, because you have to know that anyone involved in politics is corruptible, or already corrupted. It's the whole power thing. Brings out the Dark Side of the Force.
What I do know is that politics and education should never mix. The State wants to pass all these kids who either do well, or not. There's no rule that says “You're white so you are intelligent, you're black so you are thick”. I know some really intelligent kids from all races in my Varsity, and I also know some really thick ones, also from all races. So that's not the issue. The issue is that in it's quest to pass as many non-white students as possible (which is the majority according to quota), the bureaucracy which has the power, has effectively lowered the standard of education. The lecturers are forced to add on another 20% to the mark of that sorry bastard who can't make a sentence, so he passes, and so I get another 20% onto my mark.
Now, I know you're probably saying “well shut up and smile, you're benefiting from the deal too”. But I'm not. And neither are any of the other students. In the long term, to get the education I need for a Bachelor's Degree anywhere else in the World, I have to do a Masters in this country, which is crap. Because then I'm overqualified to work in the country I love. I don't want to go anywhere else, just to get a decent job. But I don't want to pay for half an education either. And the poor sods who just scrape out the door with a degree may feel fine now, but on Monday morning in the office, they won't have a clue, thanks to the really diligent and combined efforts of the SU and those idiots on the top floor.
The most annoying point is that they don't realise what damage they are doing because they are so caught up in their little political campaign to RIGHT THE WRONGS. They don't realise they are wronging more rights.
And the lecturers? They are stuck between a rock and a hard place. SU complains, they get smacked down by the bureaucracy. They annoy the bureaucracy by keeping standards (normal) high, their funding gets pulled. So what do they do for a living? Play the game, of course.
It sucks, and there's no help for it. I actually feel sorry for the witous. I know it sounds very politically incorrect, but it's a fact so face it: any non-white that comes out of Varsity with a degree has a good chance of getting a job somewhere. And if there aren't jobs, the State will make jobs. For most of the whities coming out of Varsity, they don't have much of a chance of getting a job as it is. Most will have to find work overseas. The bummer is that our SA degrees overseas are worth shit. Unless, that is, you are willing to work in the UK doing meat packing, serving fast food, sweeping streets, or any of the other numerous jobs the pommies would rather go on the dol than deign to do for a living. That's just to focus on one of the more popular destinations.
I know I'm a pessimist. And there's probably more than a few of you who are right now composing a mail to me, telling me how wrong I am about certain facts and figures. All I know is that I'm waking up to certain realities in this world. And one of them is that life is not all roses and sunshine, even if you are studying at Varsity. There are numerous things you have to question. There are factors outside the effort you put into your work, that decide how much your degree is worth at the end of it all. And so far as I can tell, as long as there is politics involved in Varsity, nothing will ever be about creating brilliant academic minds.
So goodnight to you all. I'll leave it there for now. Remember to trust your instincts, but question everything else. There is nothing as powerful as the thinking mind.
Demonspawn.
|
