Students Are Revolting!

Pudgilius agrees that students are revolting but thinks they have a point. 

Whilst the pen may be mightier than the sword, sometimes the sword just gets the job done.  (Neither Pudgilius nor his associates advocate the use of violence.)   But, my little corn shakers, how else are our bright young things meant to react to the final swinging of the wrecking ball with Ludditesque zeal against the already shattered edifice of higher education? 

Pudgilius regards access to a higher education system based upon ability to pay as the ultimate betrayal of the fundamental ethos of education itself.  Indeed, it is the essence of a dynamic society to ensure that those with ability, regardless of background and means, have the opportunity to succeed.  That opportunity should, of course, be embedded right through the food chain. 

Before the prolonged assault on education in this country, which saw the entire system turned into the front line in a spite-fuelled social engineering experiment, bright pupils from poor backgrounds had a genuine prospect of upward social mobility.  Entirely through their own efforts, pupils could improve their lot.  Yes, my friends, the education system was selective; the brightest went to Grammar schools, by and large, but not exclusively, the gateway to university education. 

Perversely, the achievements of the able acted not as a spur for educationalists to ensure the highest quality of education and training for all others, based upon ability, but served as a red rag to the zealous, snorting, mean-spirited bull which sought to enforce the appearance of equality for all.  This fundamental assault has progressed for decades without break or hindrance.     

Pudgilius says enough is enough and demands a return to an education system which rewards ability and one which maximises the opportunities for all to develop to their maximum potential.  He calls for the pre-eminence of genuine universities to be restored, properly funded and resourced, and the demise, or total reformation, of bogus institutions of “extended enrolment”.  Pudgilius calls for the restoration of full grants for all university students and an end to the invidious system of “ability to pay”.    

Meanwhile, “hold that Nuremberg trial!” is the cry as Pudgilius witnesses the rise of a new brand of fascism.  With the old NF all but a distant memory and the BNP laughably crumbling from within, a new breed of right wing mutant has evolved in the form of the EDL. 

No more anti-Semitic, racially-based platform for them, the EDL is “open to all”; all, that is, except “radical Islamists”.  Pudgilius looks on bemused as the heavily tattooed, knuckle-dustered hand extends to the Jewish, Sikh and Hindu communities, urging them to unite in a common cause.   Before anybody can shout, “arbeit macht frei”, the EDL has announced its very own Jewish Division.  Pudgilius is left wondering whether the EDL really can prove that your enemy’s enemy truly is your shaven-headed, balaclava-wearing, pick axe wielding best friend.