A Joke BackfiredI think I might be able to offer some insight into the broader origins of this issue.My name is Amanda Rose, and between 1996 and 2010 I was working in academic course development. As part of many teams in different Universities and academic bodies, we were tasked with modernising courses, updating syllabi, developing curriculae etc. I've also worked within Europe and the United States in the same area.Take my aunt, as an example. She has a degree in Horticultural Sciences.Or does she? Yes, she does, it's framed and hangs on the wall of the shed on her allotment. But what is it really? Well, it's sort of like how you have an apron in the kitchen that reads "Don't Mess With The Chef!" It doesn't mean you're actually a chef! Just like her degree is more like a sign of"I Love Gardening" for visitors to see.It is true, that UWL developed courses in Curry Making, Kite Flying and the suchlike. Notable symbolic novelty courses would also includeMusical Theatre (singin' 'n' dancin'), Music Technology (twiddling knobs while the talentless drivvel and dribble into microphones, bemoaning"da police" and swearing), Sociology (reading The Guardian), Psychology (reading the Daily Mail), Philosophy (reading between the lines), Business Studies (reading the FT), Media Studies (reading The Hungry Caterpillar) and so on.The clue is that many of these courses are formal extensions of things that people do as children, or stropping adolescents. Or when retired. Orthings that used to be considered normal for people to do as part of becoming a normal adult. International English, and International students, the focus of this visa scandal, was just following its proper purpose; to give young foreigners an excuse to come and live in the UK and have a bit of fun, and to give washed up or burned out teachers an excuse to bugger off to Thailand for a few years. Unfortunately, The Joke Backfired, and people, young and old alike, started to take all these courses and Universities... SERIOUSLY. Which was never the intention. Or, it sort of was, but dude... we were stoned. So sue us!I'm sure some of you will demand apologies for wasting vast amounts of society's time, money, and effort. And for absuing their faith and spolingtheir potential for actual careers. Well, I am sorry... BUT it WAS a joke!Can we be blamed for failing to anticipate that our Kite Flying Degree outline would actually be taken seriously?!We thought when we started rebadging technical colleges as Universities and applying fancy names to things otherwise trite or humdrum, thatmost people would be clever enough to realise that we were just having a bit of a laugh!How wrong we were. The visa fraud was just our way of getting a bit of sunshine and spice into the mix. It was never really about education. Real education is so dull!Can you blame us for wanting to chillax?!
Amanda Rose ● 4237d