Open university
Sir:- The Open University is por- trayed as an excitingly new devel- opment allowing people who never attended a university to study for a degree.
There is nothing new about this idea at all. Anyone who reads the newspapers must have seen regular advertisements over the years by well known correspondence col- leges advertising courses of study leading to external degrees of Lon- don University. Why then have applicants for the Open University not tried this method of obtaining degrees? The answer is that the Open University appears as a soft option, whether it is meant to be or not.
It is not difficult to see why. In the first place in order to register with London University one must possess. formal entrance qualifica- tions in the required 'o' and 'A' level GCE passes. However if one does not possess these, one can, with determination, set out to obtain them. Many have done so. But acceptance by London Uni- versity as an external student is the least difficult hurdle. One must stay the course. Probably more than forty per cent of those who register with London University as external students never actually take the final examinations.
The examinations, naturally, are of the same standard for part-time 'study at home' students as for full- time internal students. The as General for example is in three subjects and consists of nine papers.•each of three hours dura- tion, all taken within a period of about three weeks. If one part is failed then the entire examination is failed.
Contrast- this with the apparent attractions of obtaining a degree from the Open University. There are no formal entrance require- ments. 'credits' arc given at inter- vals, mainly on the basis of tutor assessment rather than formal ex- aminations, and by the piecemeal collection of such credits one is eventually awarded a degree. Frankly I cannot see how this degree will be accepted as compar-
able in academic worth with those of established universities, unless procedures are changed. But now, for teachers, it scarcely matters. If the current proposals for teachers' salaries are put into effect, older graduate teachers will lose their graduate differentials and there will be little incentive for non-graduate teachers to study for degrees of any kind. J. Reilly 11 Elmway, Hilda Park, Chester- le-Street, Co. Durham
Previous page
