The University and other alternatives to Higher

Education such as Apprenticeship

The University…

The second half of this century has witnessed a global boom in higher education.
Today, in both the developing and industrialized worlds, the vital role of higher
education is socially accepted. The University as an Institution today interweaves
the themes of history, theory, and administration in probing the fundamentals of
the university ideal. Its philosophy, functions, objectives, structures, and service
to culture and professions are all to be explored.

Reflections on the historically dynamic process of the university

The university has put its flexibility to the test. Different forms of economic, social,
and political organization have appeared and disappeared. Some of those still
subsisting are completely transformed as to their functions, aims, and structure.
But universities, even the newest, poorest and smallest in the modern world, still
preserve ideas, values, conventions, and customs that, in the life of their
professors and students, still recall those of their predecessors, such as those in
Paris, Oxford and Bologna during the 13th century.

The University of Oxford was the first university to be

established in Britain. Dating from the 12th century, it is
organised as a federation of colleges and the image
above shows the oldest college, University College,
founded in 1249.

The similarities with the past are not reduced to the wearing of a professorial
gown or respect for certain ceremonies such as graduation day. There are very
developed university systems in which these symbols are practically invisible.
Institutional continuity is not limited to appreciation of the humanities, because
nowadays there are universities that are wholly dedicated to technical subject
areas in their research and teaching activities. Over the centuries and despite
difficulties, this devotion to learning has earned the university social as well as
state recognition of its autonomy.

The
University of King's College was the first to accept
and graduate students, to receive a charter, and is
the oldest English-speaking Commonwealth
university outside the United Kingdom.

Graduation day remains the most valued

ceremony for every university.

The years may pass by but universities remain true to their

traditions. This is the annual Encaenia honorary degree ceremony
at Oxford University, a major event in the calendar of Oxford
University.The picture on the left was taken in 1954 and the one
below in 2007
 The ideology of university

The “University-symbol” is so attractive because of the

benefits of prestige, privilege, and power that it
promises its graduates. Old universities have the power
to set the rules and create an example in terms of
education. From the first day of
school, parents prepare their
children for what seems to be the
‘university dream’.

The mass media, through its TV

dramas, advertisement, music
and books are highly responsible in inserting this idea of
the ’university dream’. Due to this young people from a
relatively young age are likely to believe to be necessary to
attend university and get to graduation day in order to
achieve not only social respectability but also to get the
nod of approval from their family and friends.

Functions of the university

Nowadays our society expects its institutions of higher education to fulfill

functions like: to provide high-level teaching and specialized training; to offer the
possibility for “social mobility” to good students and working-class students; to
serve as a model; to put certain national policies into practice so that equal
opportunities and the transmittal of culture and common norms are guaranteed;
and to prepare people capable of carrying out the “role of leaders” of society.

Also because of the progress of knowledge useful for professional practice, the
university has the obligation to guarantee final training and attend to the desires
of people in active practice through master’s courses, doctoral studies, recycling
courses, and even pre-university activities in the workplace

The government highly values and continuingly supports the development of

universities as it sees university as vital in reinforcing the economy’s
competitiveness and the production of wealth, especially through the engineering
sciences and technology, thereby strengthening ties between the university,
industry and business.

Moreover the university is said to be universal because it is open to all those who
can derive benefit from it. The university—the universitas studii of medieval times
—is linked to the concepts of freedom of access to knowledge.

Apprenticeship…
A dilemma remains today concerning the university’s missions and its respective
functions: whether science should involve research or simply teaching; whether
students should be taught and educated or simply trained; and how best to serve
society.

Thus alternatives to university are vocational studies. The

most popular one being apprenticeship which is a system
of training a new generation of
practitioners of a skill. This way of
education has been a long tradition
in the United Kingdom, dating back
to around the 12th century and
flourishing by the 14th century. The
parents or guardians of a minor
would agree with a Guild's Master craftsman the
conditions for an apprenticeship which would bind the
minor for 5–9 years (e.g. from age 14 to 21).

In modern times, apprenticeship became less important, especially as

employment in heavy industry and artisan trades declined. Traditional
apprenticeships reached their lowest point in the 1970s: by that time, training
programs were rare and people who were apprentices learned mainly by
example. In 1986, National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) were introduced, in
an attempt to revitalise vocational training. Still, by 1990, apprenticeship took up
only two-thirds of one percent of total employment.

In 1994, the Government introduced Modern Apprenticeships (since renamed

'Apprenticeships' in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland has retained
Modern Apprenticeship), based on frameworks that are now devised by Sector
Skill Programs. Apprenticeship frameworks contain a number of separately-
certified elements:

• a knowledge-based element, typically certified through a qualification

known as a ‘Technical Certificate’;

• a competence-based element, typically certified through an NVQ and

• Key Skills.

As of 2009 there are over 180 apprenticeship frameworks. Unlike traditional

apprenticeships, the current scheme extends beyond craft and skilled trades to
parts of the service sector with no
apprenticeship tradition. The Department
for Children, Schools and Families has
stated its intention to make
apprenticeships a "mainstream" part of
England’s education system.

Employers who offer apprenticeship

places have an employment contract with
their apprentices, but off-the-job training
and assessment is wholly funded by the state for apprentices aged between 16
and 18. In England, Government only contributes 50% of the cost of training for
apprentices aged 19 and over.

Government funding agencies in England, the Learning and Skills Council

contract with 'learning providers' to deliver apprenticeships, and may accredit
them as a Centre of Vocational Excellence or National Skills Academy. These
organizations provide off-the-job tuition and manage the bureaucratic workload
associated with the apprenticeships. Providers are usually private training
companies but might also be Further Education colleges, voluntary sector
organisations, Chambers of Commerce or employers themselves.

The application process for both university and apprenticeship is done online via
the completion of a form which for university includes a personal statement while
for apprenticeship includes a CV and a cover letter.

Conclusion

The very idea of the university as an institution is essentially medieval, and it is

curious to observe how largely that idea still dominates our modern schemes of
education.

However as universities have become widely accessible competition between

them is increasing. The League Table illustrates the hierarchy of universities with
Oxbridge being the British university model that has been more or less emulated.
Top universities, due to traditional outlooks, are regarded with prestige and thus
give their graduates an advantage when looking for employment. This is
something that apprenticeship cannot yet compare with.
On the other hand, one of the main disadvantages of university institutions is that
they have fluctuated or still fluctuate between complete academic freedom and
subservience to political and economic power. This results in the deterioration of
the university’s moral and scientific autonomy in the face of undue external
pressures. This is a bonus point for apprenticeship.

The European Ministers of Education once has said: “The adaptation of higher
teaching to social needs is the concern of institutions and individuals…linking
higher education to society, the economy, and practical life in order to relate, as
well as possible, the right to education, the right to work, and forming the
specialists that society needs." So in other words, despite the individual being
the one making the choice as to what shape higher education will take for them,
a university or vocational form, the economy is likely to be the deciding factor as
the needs of the individual will be dictated by the needs of the economy.