The sadness of university

The current perspective of people on university is not as bright as it once used to be.

Students get into university with the practical, long-term hope of landing a job. Ironically they land in debts instead, trying to meet the expenses. And with no job in sight.

However, the scenario was not always the same. The structure of university was designed for a reason, a sacred space of transfer of knowledge; and to sculpt & prepare an individual to be able to navigate real life.

So where did things go wrong? What led to the sadness of the universities?

• Staying in the past

University is an educational institutional structure of the past.

Designed & built with the intention of catering to the student’s need of deeper knowledge of the subject, a place for exchange of ideas & values, & lastly a place for gossip.

This ecosystem, which is a breeding ground for fresh ideas & values, & the transfer of knowledge through storytelling, along with the joy of learning, is irreplaceable.

But, times have changed. And in this fast paced world, where education is being commoditized, lack of a much needed renaissance to this institutional structure has succeeded in loss of attention to much cheaper, faster & result-oriented alternatives.

• High cost

The cost of education, one has to bear over the long, higher education tenure, including university, is too much for a major portion of the society.

And to cover the cost, through loans, one ends up in debt, with no job in sight. And this occurs due to the degree-oriented, instead of skill-oriented, mindset of the university.

Use of cost reduction strategies & inclusion of financial aids might mitigate this issue.

• Emergence of better alternatives

Ads of tutorial colleges are littered everywhere. They are in high demand.

Sadly these alternatives of a tutorial ecosystem has frozen the flow of ideas, & instead commoditized knowledge into nothing less than pellets, ready to be gulped & digested.

As a result we produce the best summarizers one can possibly find.

Also some skill-oriented courses, that guarantees an internship or an entry-level job are a much better option, from a middle class perspective.

An introduction of flexibility to the rigid structure of the university, to include skill-oriented, high-value courses might shed a light in the dark.

However tough & negative the situation may be, the efforts to save the universities is worth it. As no alternatives can even remotely replace the joyful & memorable experience of learning that the university has to offer.