Education Info

Educational qualifications can be, and often are used to maintain the status quo – the existing social order. When I lived in the Netherlands, you had to have qualifications to be able to open a shop. Sounds fair enough, you might say, but the exams were only available in Dutch, which is not one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world.

If Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods, wanted to open a shop in the Netherlands, he would have to learn Dutch or circumvent the regulations by hiring local managers.

While I can see the need for people (shop keepers in this case) to provide evidence of an understanding of the law of the land, some countries take it too far. They make education a weapon of class warfare.

After all, it allows the ruling class to say that they are only trying to raise standards, while not providing the means for the poor to reach those standards. By not providing a universal education, they are in fact ensuring that the best jobs stay with the richest families.

There is a subtle way of modifying this scheme so as to make the gentry look innocent – they can put schools in every village and then stock them with low-grade teachers by making the wages and conditions awful, and simultaneously open the universities to all who have reached the requisite level of education.

This method also keeps the riff-raff out but allows the rich to maintain the illusion that a university education is open to all. This is the most common tactic in the Developing World.

In richer countries like Europe and America, the glass ceiling is put in place by making higher education expensive and offering ‘cheap loans’ to students who wish to continue their education.

In the UK, at the moment, the cap on university fees is about $14,000 per annum, so after a typical three tear course, a student comes away with a degree, which is no longer a guarantee of a job, and a $40,000 overdraft.

That is enough to deter the riff-raff too.

So what is the solution to this subtle form of the poverty, or at least, the social status trap?

Means-tested grants used to work just fine.

A student has to be able to embark on an educational course without having the distraction of worrying about money. Rich kids don’t have to worry about their finances at or after university, so why should poor kids? Let’s make it fair.

Britain as a whole had this enviable system for decades, but Scotland is the only country within the UK to maintain it. Welsh students have to pay something, I think, but not as much as English kids.

This will probably result in more Scottish and Welsh graduates per head of population than English ones in the near future. The Celts will love that, but it doesn’t seem fair on the English working class.

One of the reasons why Lek in ‘Behind The Smile’ did not stay at school was because the family thought the the cost seemed to be too high for the benefits that they could see it delivering. This is not the state’s direct fault, but it does result from a lack of ambition in people who have never known anyone in their family go to university.

Behind The Smile : ISBN: 978-1-475-21688-2 : Published by CreateSpace 19-4-2012 : Paperback and eBook.

Bryant & Stratton College Featured in Magazine’s 2014 Guide to Military-Friendly Colleges and Universities

Buffalo, NY, December 17, 2013 – Bryant & Stratton College today announced it is one of a select number of colleges and universities nationwide to be named a Top Military-Friendly School by Military Advanced Education magazine. In recognition of its outstanding efforts to serve military affiliated students, the College is featured in the publication’s 2014 Guide to Military-Friendly College & Universities, a tool designed to help servicemembers and veterans as they consider available educational opportunities. The Guide provides prospective students with information about institutions that go out of their way to give back to our nation’s men and women in uniform.

-It is an incredible honor to be awarded the distinction of Top Military-Friendly School. We take our responsibility to military students and their families very seriously, working hard to provide customized supports and resources, including student veterans groups, military support staff, special scholarships and other military-friendly policies and programs,- said Lee Hicklin, the College’s Military Coordinator. -We understand the unique challenges military affiliated students face and we are dedicated to doing all we can to help them be successful.-

Military Advanced Education evaluated colleges and universities on several criteria including flexibility of online learning options, extent of transfer credits accepted by degree level, on-campus ROTC, Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) participation, on-campus active duty/veteran assistance, the support provided to the families of servicemembers, faculty trained in veteran reintegration issues, presence on military installations andfull-time counselors trained in veteran-specific mental health concerns, to name but a few.

More information about each recognized institution can be found online in a searchable database on Military Advanced Education’s website. The database provides access to all the survey questions and answers provided by the schools, as well as explanations about critical issues like the schools’ activation and deployment policies, withdrawal policies, scholarship and financial aid information and important support information.

Bryant & Stratton College has a strong reputation with military servicemembers, veterans and their families. Bryant & Stratton College has 18 campuses across New York, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin and offers programs nationwide through its Online Education division. For information about the specific resources and programs available to active duty servicemembers, veterans and family members of the military at each of its campus locations, visit www.bryantstratton.edu for contact information.

About Bryant & Stratton College: Bryant & Stratton College is a private career college delivering outcomes-based education and training through a flexible, contemporary curriculum in a personalized environment. The College is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education, and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Bryant & Stratton College has campus locations in New York, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as an Online Education division, and a Professional Skill Center.For over 155 years, Bryant & Stratton College has been providing real world education leading to bachelor’s degrees, associate’s degrees and professional certificates in the fields of healthcare, technology, legal, business, & graphic design. For more information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program and other important information, please visit http://www.bryantstratton.edu/disclosures. General information can also be found on the College’s website at www.bryantstratton.edu.

About Military Advanced Education and KMI Media Group, Inc. Military Advanced Education (www.mae-kmi.com) serves education services officers (ESOs)and transition officers (TOs) at every U.S. military installation, along with the servicemembers they counsel.Published 10 times yearly, MAE’s editorial coverage includes exclusive interviews with military executive leadership, educators and members of Congress; best practices; career and transition spotlights, servicemember, school and program profiles, and periodic special reports. KMI Media Group, Inc. is the leading independent publisher of targeted information about military requirements, technologies and operations. Serving as a unique forum for senior military and Department of Defense leadership, KMI focuses on distinct and essential communities within the defense market.

Contact: Lindsey Read Communications Strategy Group 3225 East 2nd Avenue Denver, CO 80206 937-408-9321 http://www.csg-pr.com

Instruction lending options are sought by persons who do not have unique funds for his or her learning. Private education loans, also called alternate financial loans, are individuals which are used when federal lending options, grants, scholarships, and work-study packages usually are not adequate. A private education loan would cowl all degree costs for instance: tuition, space and board, uniforms, transportation, charges, books as well as a pc.

Private education loans usually are not assured by the authorities as opposed to federal lending options. These are generally supplied by personal trusts, philanthropic and non-profit organizations. The mortgage sum can assortment in between $1,500 and 30,000. Typically, the mortgage quantity would cowl the whole price of learning, minus any federal scholarships or grants. All US residents, nationals, or everlasting residents can apply for a mortgage. College students who’re applying for his or her personal lending options have to be US residents, should really have a favorable credit report and meet particular ailments. International college students can implement with an eligible US cosigner. The attraction charges for these financial loans are greater than individuals for federal lending options ranging in between 8-10%. Optimum reimbursement interval is 20 many years and is based on the mortgage sum. Bare minimum month-to-month precept and attention cost for a few of these lending options is $25. Reimbursement possibilities are of countless sorts. These consist of rapid fee of precept and fascination, speedy reimbursement of appeal to, deferment of precept, and deferment of each attraction together with precept. These examples are contingent on the kind of mortgage used. For graduate/professional lending options, each principal and attraction are routinely deferred although the pupil is in college, and throughout the six months following graduation or from the time the pupil ceases to be enrolled in college no less than half-time. Private education loans can not be consolidated with federal learning lending options.

Nowadays, there are lots of solutions of private education loans. Even the software method has grow to be really fast and simple with web-based and telephonic purposes.

There are a number of language immersion programs available for students to learn a foreign language by studying 8 hours a day and living with a host family in a foreign country to continue speaking the host’s language. The program usually lasts for a number of weeks and the student is only allowed to communicate in the language such as Spanish if the student is in Mexico, Spain or any Latin American country where Spanish is spoken and the immersion educational experience is offered.

Duolingual Education is a methodology for service abroad opportunities that combines a student’s immersion experience in a foreign country for a four-month period. A volunteer travels to a host country and teaches children English in a classroom situation but also teaches other activities such as celebrate a birthday, play games, sing songs, act out stories or participate in creative expression and all the while, volunteer teacher and students speak English. Volunteer teachers go to countries such as China, Russia, the Ukraine and Mexico. They live either in a dorm or apartment or with a host family. During their stay, they are immersed in the culture and learn how to speak the language of the host country. In a sense, the teacher volunteer and the children go about teaching each other their native language while interacting together in a classroom situation.

The volunteer does not need to know the language of the host country so the experience will be learned from the very ground up learning from hosts and students and exchanging by teaching host and students English. The volunteer is not paid for their services, but must pay a fee which includes air fare, visa, housing, food, language and cultural classes, pre-departure training, on-site training, and on-site supervision. The volunteer can either pay or raise funds through personally raised contributions. It is highly recommended that extra money is taken to the country for extra expenses.

This is a perfect program for young people and married couples are encouraged to travel and experience Duolingual Education together. There is no age limit but the program seems to attract college students and young professionals who are looking for an adventure in another country while helping to teach children English.

The institution for this program is a non-profit organization with no affiliation with universities or religious organizations. If students need credits, they must make arrangements in advance with their school.