Letters | What’s a university degree really worth in today’s Hong Kong?
- Readers discuss the decline in university teaching amid the pursuit of high global rankings, patriotic education, and subdivided flats
Back when I was studying at university overseas, I would see scribbles on restroom doors that said: university degrees are toilet paper, take one if you want.
With all due respect, I think that statement is truer now than it was then. These days, I see too many university graduates who are overly qualified for low-paid jobs, without much hope of upward social mobility.
In a matter of decades, almost all tertiary institutions in Hong Kong have essentially turned into research institutions. The trade-off has been a decline in teaching: the teachers who are more interested in teaching than doing research either change careers or get stuck in lowly teaching positions at the institutions, sometimes becoming depressed or disgruntled, venting their frustration on spouses or parents, or having to seek medical help.
It is hardly surprising to see a deterioration in teaching, and thus learning.
As it is, many students don’t see a promising future ahead, unless they are training for high-demand fields such as medicine.
