THE PURSUIT OF A UNIVERSITY DEGREE
--A SURVIVAL NEED IN OUR COMPETITIVE SOCIETY

It is axiomatic that arming yourself with a university degree is no longer like in the olden days a luxury, but more a necessity or at least a hugely perceived need for survival in the today’s world. The recent hype about UNSW’s closure, students with outstanding grades failing to secure a place in a desired university course, and employees deceiving employers regarding paper qualifications, point to the mounting importance people see in university education as well as the despair and desperation in not being able to obtain one.

One should realise that good grades are no longer a direct passport into university. We should learn to appreciate how people are no longer judged solely on their academic achievements and society is becoming more open-minded towards the notion that individuals with other qualities or abilities can be an asset. In fact, many students who may not have been able to bank on these to help them enter a particular school in the past can now do so. And this change should be recognised as progression in our society.

With the vast number of applications and increasing efforts to raise standards of local education in the global scene, choosing the all-rounded individual is undoubtedly a wise move by the universities. Society has changed and we need to accept the fact that even an excellent transcript may not be suffice to ensure entry into a top-notch organisation or MNC. Moreover, today’s workers would gladly testify that excelling academically would not guarantee your success in the workplace.

Hence, the challenges for us today are: (1) how as a society can we cater for this rising demand for university education (e.g. providing more bonds or even subsidies for people to study overseas); (2) how can educational institutions develop fair selection criteria that are aligned to societal needs (i.e. with more measures like CCA records and project work, how do we decide who is more deserving of a place); and lastly (3) how can we as individuals widen our repertoire of skills and abilities to need the changing needs in the job market.