MJ McRantyPants
So, I just read in a news report that some moron proposed the government stop funding regional universities and make all the poor rural kids go study in the cities if they want any chance of having a tertiary education.
W.T.F?
That's just ridiculous, really. The cities are congested and polluted and way too expensive to live in. Plus the major cities are all on the coast, so there are people who would have to travel over 1000km to attend uni under such a scheme. And you try taking some poor kid out of a town of 7000 people and plonking them down into Melbourne or Sydney, and see just how long it takes for them to decide uni sucks and they're perfectly happy to just work in a supermarket back home for the rest of their lives if that's the alternative.
I don't really think it was a serious proposal, but even so. That's just ridiculous. If anything they should be increasing the funding to regional universities who have trouble attacting the high enrolment rates and the demi-geniuses who get over 90 on their ATARs that all the city universities enjoy in far greater quantity.
Speaking as a rural kid, it's a stupid idea. No way would I go to uni if I had to go in Sydney. I have enough trouble navigating the public transport in Wagga, or driving on a road with four lanes (two one way, two the other). My town's so small it doesn't even have a traffic light or roundabout. I've never had to deal with peak hour traffic in my life. And you want to throw me headlong into the city for a tertiary education? No thank you! And don't try and tell me doing the degree by distance is an option, because I'd still have to travel however many hundreds of kms, and then find accommodation for two or three weeks, all the while paying city fees to stay there. Not. Gonna. Happen.
I know regional uniersities may not be able to offer the same quality of education as city universities, mostly due to all the really acclaimed and decorated lecturers/academics/etc. choosing to stay in the cities, but at least they're tryin g. At least they care about the rural kids getting an education. Most city universities won't offer any bonus points for rural kids who wish to enrol, whereas nearly every rural university will. (Except Canberra. UAC was going to give me 5 bonus points, so they were alright, but they're also a fairly new university. ANU wouldn't do that, I'm positive)
So, um, yeah. Sorry about the rant, but it's just something I wanted to get off my chest. Ignore if you want :)
W.T.F?
That's just ridiculous, really. The cities are congested and polluted and way too expensive to live in. Plus the major cities are all on the coast, so there are people who would have to travel over 1000km to attend uni under such a scheme. And you try taking some poor kid out of a town of 7000 people and plonking them down into Melbourne or Sydney, and see just how long it takes for them to decide uni sucks and they're perfectly happy to just work in a supermarket back home for the rest of their lives if that's the alternative.
I don't really think it was a serious proposal, but even so. That's just ridiculous. If anything they should be increasing the funding to regional universities who have trouble attacting the high enrolment rates and the demi-geniuses who get over 90 on their ATARs that all the city universities enjoy in far greater quantity.
Speaking as a rural kid, it's a stupid idea. No way would I go to uni if I had to go in Sydney. I have enough trouble navigating the public transport in Wagga, or driving on a road with four lanes (two one way, two the other). My town's so small it doesn't even have a traffic light or roundabout. I've never had to deal with peak hour traffic in my life. And you want to throw me headlong into the city for a tertiary education? No thank you! And don't try and tell me doing the degree by distance is an option, because I'd still have to travel however many hundreds of kms, and then find accommodation for two or three weeks, all the while paying city fees to stay there. Not. Gonna. Happen.
I know regional uniersities may not be able to offer the same quality of education as city universities, mostly due to all the really acclaimed and decorated lecturers/academics/etc. choosing to stay in the cities, but at least they're tryin g. At least they care about the rural kids getting an education. Most city universities won't offer any bonus points for rural kids who wish to enrol, whereas nearly every rural university will. (Except Canberra. UAC was going to give me 5 bonus points, so they were alright, but they're also a fairly new university. ANU wouldn't do that, I'm positive)
So, um, yeah. Sorry about the rant, but it's just something I wanted to get off my chest. Ignore if you want :)