What are the real values of cyberspace? Some pundits have raised this question, mostly but not always by implication, in the wake of John Perry Barlow’s death on February 7. Barlow, a Grateful Dead lyricist and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is frequently characterised as having been a Republican and/or a libertarian, although as I […]
In recent years there has been a campaign to compel investment managers with responsibility for British university endowments to divest themselves of any assets (eg, pension fund investments or shares in particular firms) associated with the mining or refinement of oil, gas, coal or other fossil fuels, often replacing them with investments in renewable energy […]
Bryan Caplan has been in school for 40 years. From preschool to an economics PhD at Princeton and his current job, as a professor of economics at George Mason University, his life has been spent learning and teaching. The system, he says, has been good to him: I have my dream job for life. I’m […]
What is human progress? Is it happening? Can it continue? These are some of the questions that Steven Pinker, Harvard University Professor and Human Progress Board Member, answers in his new book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. As he shows, on most measures of human well-being the world is much better […]
Student politics has always been a site of radical dissent. In theory, there is nothing wrong with this. It is perfectly legitimate to question the wisdom of conventional beliefs or government policy. However, a line must be drawn. In recent years, the National Union of Students (NUS) has promoted “Students Not Suspects”, a student-led campaign […]
Roy Wilkes is a schoolteacher, recently the subject of disciplinary action by his own trade union, the NUT, which accused him, according to the Times, of “grossly discriminatory (transphobic) statements… that were damaging to the mental health of members” and which “brought the union into disrepute”. Mr Wilkes’s actual statements (he seems to have pointed out […]
Speaking in Bethlehem the day after the slaughter at the Manchester Arena in May last year, Donald Trump made the following observation: “So many young beautiful, innocent people living and enjoying their lives murdered by evil losers in life. I won’t call them monsters because they would like that term. They would think that’s a […]
Last week I was in Brussels taking part in a discussion on radicalisation in prison. The event was hosted by the European Policy Centre, an independent think tank normally graced by the EU aristocracy. Perhaps the uncomfortable subject matter – the ghost at the banquet of European integration – kept Junker, Rompuy et al away. Maybe […]
New Year hangovers amongst left-inclining intellectuals and academics have been greatly exacerbated by news of the appointment of right-wing controversialist Toby Young to the board of the new Office for Students. “Outrageous”, they are saying, that such a partisan figure should be appointed to such a crucial body, at such a sensitive time for higher […]
Justine Greening’s Social Mobility Action Plan, published today, isn’t a full White Paper of the kind that Secretaries of State normally produce (or even a Green Paper). It is much narrower in its scope than Education Excellence Everywhere and Gove’s The Importance of Teaching. But in its defence, it doesn’t claim to be an all encompassing document. Nor does […]
The Higher Education Bill, introduced into law in 2017, claims to put students at the heart of the system. The narrative and elements of policy are clear. Students will have access to higher quality information about the degrees and courses they wish to study and a new Teaching Excellence Framework will call Universities to account […]
A pure stroke of luck finds me in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe at this most historic time. As I write, the reign of the ruthless dictator, Robert Mugabe, is coming to an end. His image is still everywhere. Whether you’re in the airport, hotel, customs post to Zambia, entrance to the Victoria Falls National Park, or […]
Government is often seen as society’s great equalizer. In education, nothing can be further from the truth. Indeed, it is almost impossible for one to imagine an aspect of society with greater inequities than those existing in the U.S. education system. Income Inequality, Schools Edition Since children are assigned to government-run schools based on their […]
In the world of international development, Liberia has recently attention for contracting out management of some public schools to the private sector. The Financial Times and The Economist have covered this story. That is partly due to the fact that the large American company involved, Bridge International Academies, is funded by, among others, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. Predictably, […]
There is increasing talk across the political spectrum of reforming the UK’s student loan system. To the extent that the discussion has been spurred by Jeremy Corbyn’s expensive, regressive and distortionary promise to abolish tuition fees, there is reason to be pessimistic. We are likely to end up with a student finance scheme which is […]
Timebomb: How the university cartel is failing Britain’s students was triggered by the concerns expressed by numerous friends who are parents of university students. Their complaint was simple. Their children are rarely at the university, and when they are there, they are taught for so little time that the whole experience feels like very poor value […]
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