Re: Here's someone on our side :o)

Ian <ian@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Every*one* (i.e. every individual) has a duty to take an interest in
education. I don't think that *business* (i.e. profit-making) has any
right or stake in education whatsoever.

So you will give up your teaching salary because its profitable to you?

I am not making a profit, I am earning a salary. Making a profit means
spending less on resources and labour than you can sell them for. I am
not buying and selling for a profit.

I make a profit but I hope I also contribute something useful to education
and profit is not my sole motive. Breaking exactly even is actually quite
difficult and giving away surpluses is not that simple either because of
the need for investment in future business.

I am not saying that you shouldn't be making a profit or running a
business, even one supplying services or goods to education. What I am
saying is that business should not have a right over how children are
educated.

The purpose of education should be to educate people, and that is it.

Quite so, and education includes a balanced view of economics, how jobs
are created and sustained in the practical world and the political
perspectives that drive this. That means involving a wide range of
interests not just those that suit individuals.

I do understand this as well. But if you agree that it should be opened
up far enough so that we get education secretaries jumping out of their
political boots every time the CBI moans that school-leavers don't seem
to be well-prepared to do tedious menial jobs more cheaply than workers
in the poorest countries in the world, then it seems to me that you have
allowed one kind of view or interest to dominate very dangerously over
education (which in fact I think is the current situation).

If that suits business's purposes, well, lucky business; if not, tough luck.

I think you need to be a bit more discriminating about what constitutes
legitimate business interest and what could be deemed to be illegitimate.
I would agree that there are circumstances where conflicts of interest
arise but there are also co-operative ventures. Work experience is an
obvious one.

I am not speaking of individual business which have some involvemnent or
connection to education in one way or another; some of those do good
stuff well, and some don't.

I am speaking of business as a powerful and well-organised political
interest which makes a lot of noise about education and its purpose, and
which has strong interests in moulding education to its own ends.

As an employer, I want educated applicants because without them the
business will die and the people working here will then be out of work
and not paying taxes. If replicated nationwide the education system
will collapse because there will be no national wealth to pay for it.

Simply not true.

Which bit isn't true?

The idea that an education (or health, or other public service) is
dependent upon a capitalist economy. The education and health systems in
other economies weren't (aren't, in the case of Cuba) and whatever the
other serious problems those societies faced, they were able to sustain
public services easily the equal of those in capitalist economies.

Daniele
.

Relevant Pages

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