Higher/Hire Education

Today's radio discussion revolved around the usefulness, or not, of a university education and whether one's experience toward earning their degree, really has significance in later life. And while I gather, it does, there was criticism by those interviewed. One person said that his education was mainly to learn how to learn, and the other one said that she found it meant a great deal socially, but not in assuring her of a job. My degree,  achieved some many years ago, was special to me, in two ways among others. First, it ensured more salary, and second, it gave me satisfaction that I had achieved one of my life's goals. The first benefit was real, the second, personal. A university degree is a many faceted matter. These days, it doesn't assure more money or even a job, because modern success is about quantitatives. How much you earn, rates higher than being an intelligent conversationalist. Money breeds money, and those with a lot of the stuff can afford to shoo their kids off to university. The rich kid doesn't have to worry about spending lots of time on the essays and projects, because there is no essential job to slave on, evenings and weekends. Their energy and time goes into the luxury of assignments, thus higher marks in many cases. Some of the rich kids even hire the poorer ones to write their material. It's a fact, though not a pretty one, and certainly one that needs a closer look. Which one, the rich or the poor student, appreciates his/her education more? That's a no-brainer. How useful is an education, then? Some people say, you can't get any job without a degree. Most jobs today, are earned through something called "pull". "Pull" is the selling of oneself. Your claptrap, your clothes, your charm to enchant your future employer, is well-known and there are how-to classes in this method. On the other hand, employers train themselves, or others, to see through the sham.  "Pull" includes being rich to begin with. I know a couple of young people in their twenties who were gifted with ownership of very large companies to "cut their teeth on". I kid you not. They owned huge holdings in development through parental teaching and money.  Of course, the economy depends upon the rich, therefore, we average citizens don't do a lot of complaining about that. Rich people can be very pleasant and generous in their way, but their goal is to pile up as much money they can, as cheaply as possible. The bottom line.  Complain all we wish, we live in a society that runs in this manner, but it leaves out too many people with great potential when higher education depends upon who will be the doctors, lawyers and so on. Please do not think that scholarships and bursaries do it. Debt does it for the rest of that student's life. I propose that we give all of our students who want to try, a basic university education at least for the first three years. That's a goal that is achievable. Young people, by that time, should have a grip on the Humanities and can move into something they see as a contribution to the world outside school. First of all, high school could be shortened. When I was a teacher in one, I could see places where "survey" subjects were a waste of time and too little emphasis was put on Composition and Literature. When a person with a degree cannot spell and express itself, something is wrong. "Pale" and "pail" are not the same thing; a glaring error I saw recently, written by someone in a high political place. And yes, there is status and greater eloquence achieved, in having a university degree no matter how many "street educated" folk deny that fact. It shows. Beyond high school, with a degree, adult students should be able to function using their language and ambitions toward  goals that are meaningful to aid the rest of society. These goals should be of a high standard and show respect for all other human beings and the natural world, and be given to something more than merely making stacks of money to spend on ridiculous trivia.