Universities are the business

In a bold move designed to demonstrate just how far the marketization and commodification of higher education in the UK has gone, British prime minister Gordon Brown last week announced, as part of his cabinet reshuffle, that universities from now on would form part of the business portfolio under Peter (Lord) Mandelson.

Even more surprising and troubling, though, is the utter lack of reactions – whether positive or negative – to this rash decision. No one, it seems, can be bothered. A discussion ensued neither in the media nor on HE message boards or fora. In the current economic climate – with UK high-street chain stores closing down by the day –, few students and academics appear to mind universities being made (even more) subservient to business interests.

What is the logical consequence of all this? Increasingly, I can't help but feel that it would be more honest to "buy" a doctorate, rather than to work for it. What is the value (in a non-material sense) of a degree that comes out of such an environment?

I value my South African qualifications (both achieved with distinction in selective courses and competitive classes with up to 95% education- and knowledge-hungry black Africans) more highly than I could ever value a qualification from a sell-out UK institution.

An institution, such as the University of Sussex, talking left, but peopled mainly by the affluent middle class operating under a government that views students alternately as customers to be fleeced or (would-be) terrorists to be kept under surveillance.

Two years after leaving England, I see no reason to return.