Free education is not the key

I believe paid university study will cause serious students to think more carefully about what they choose to study

I would like to take issue with the article "University Challenge" by Ben Hargreaves. It does not take into account either some of the wider issues or known facts. I passed my school certificate shortly after the war and was informed by my parents that University education was an expense beyond their means, state funded tertiary education was a notion not yet invented. 

At 16 I became a Nuffield Apprentice with the princely wage of 29 shillings for a 45 hour week with I day release for study and evening classes. After completing my apprenticeship, HNC and endorsements I continued, at my own expense, evening study to equip myself with the knowledge that I judged necessary for my future career. I was just one of many thousands. 

It is these people, plus the normal wage earners who funded, via their taxation, the free ride that gave the author that "lucky feeling" but did these investors get a good return on their investment? Did the free riders study subjects that gave the investors a good return i.e. added value to the national economy?

If free education is the key, why are we not knee deep in engineers? Past articles in the PE and business press have indicated that students did not want to study engineering, it was too arduous, when there were so many other lighter subjects one could study. Why should the investors provide teaching capacity if there are insufficient students who want to study! The likely demand for engineers has, at the moment, little bearing on the number that want to study.

I believe that paid university study should cause serious students to think carefully about what they study and how they must plan their subjects to suit the market place when they seek employment. 

Author did not mention that free university study did not produce the numbers of graduates in the subjects core to the nation's strategic development, nor according to the CBI and others did it always produce the standard required by industry. 

So could someone sit down and develop a system that guarantees a return for the nation and the investors, as well as the students.  

Eric David Hopkins, Salisbury