Have we finally come to the emperor-has-no-clothes moment when it comes to quotas, or as they are euphemistically known, “affirmative action”? There are grounds for hope, as the chancellor of Oxford University, on everyone’s list of the most prestigious universities in the world, speaks truth to P.C. power in an interview with the U.K. Telegraph.
Javier Espinosa writes:
Universities cannot accept more ethnic minority students under a quota system without eroding standards, the chancellor of Oxford University has warned, as the Government readies reforms which force them to publish admissions data. (snip)
But as the pressure to accept students from a diverse background increases, Lord Patten lay the blame on schools for failing to prepare students and warned that any enforced quotas would result in a lowering of academic standards.
Lord Patten said: “I am in favour of universities recognising their responsibilities for promoting social inclusion but I don’t think that if you want high class universities you should expect them to lower their standards in order to make up for some inadequacies in our secondary education system."
Lord Patten, who was a Conservative Cabinet minister and former BBC chairman, said his university is running several schemes to widen access including scholarship schemes.
He said: “I don’t support quotas at universities. Nobody will explain to me how you can make a system of quotas work while retaining the highest admissions standards.
Quotas must mean lower standards. There are better ways of addressing social inclusion at universities."As they say in Parliament: “Hear, hear.” Equal opportunity really means judging everyone by the same standards. And affirmative action means not tolerating poor preparatory schools, teacher tenure, and excuses for parents who don’t do their jobs raising children to achieve.
Hat tip: Business Insider, Clarice Feldman
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