I'm not sure what to make of the recent student protests in the UK against the university fee rise. It's great that they're speaking out and all that but as some commentators have pointed out, there doesn't seem to be a coherent message coming through from them.
The basic problem is that too many people want to go to university but there's not enough funding to support them. Currently only 29% of universities' total funding come from fees, with 35% coming from the government and the rest from grants, endowments and investments.
If the fees remain capped at their current level of around £3,000, where's the rest of the money going to be sourced? Some groups are simply demanding that we magic up education for free but in reality, it costs money and someone, somewhere, has to pay for it.
Reducing the number of students doesn't seem to be an option for many protesters so the only other likely funding source is the government. And where does the government get its money? Though taxing its citizens. Ironically, even if they get what they want, the students will still have to pay the cost in some way. The only difference is that the payments will be less transparent.
One of the things that characterises the Filipino parenting style is a focus on academic success. For Filipino parents, education is crucial and subsequently, the brightest children are placed on a pedestal while those with bad grades get strong reprimands. This, I think, can lead to a strong fear of failure. Rather than taking on the more difficult challenges, children who wish to please their parents quickly learn to opt for those that have the highest chance of success. After all, good grades led to praise whereas failure only means a taste of tsinelas.
Filipino schools just add to the problem. Pressure from both parents and administration make teachers very reluctant to fail students. An industry professional who was offered a teaching job recently commented, "One of the reasons I refused [the job] is that if I fail 80% of the class [who were underachievers], I would be kicked out. Incredible. Raise the standards, and you get the boot. Keep them low, and you stay on forever."
Failure: a key ingredient for innovation
Ironically, the Filipino parent's over-emphasis on success may restrain excellence and encourage mediocrity. It could help to explain many of the challenges our country faces. Maybe rather than being afraid of failure, we should accept it as being one of the key ingredients for innovation. Poor students should fail but we should also reward those who bounce back after hitting the dirt.
According to Randy Nelson, dean of Pixar University, the core skill of an innovator is error recovery, not failure avoidance. Perhaps if we change our attitude to failure, we may help raise a generation of innovators for the Philippines.
Edutopia video
"Pixar University's Randy Nelson explains what schools must do to prepare students for jobs in new media." http://www.edutopia.org/
This was posted in the Phil-UK blog on 8th February 2009.
