In common with thousands of adults up and down the country, my phone pinged at just after eight this morning. It was my honorary god-daughter who had texted me to say that she’d achieved the requisite grades to study drama at Manchester University, and she, her family, and indeed I, couldn’t be more pleased.
In that deeply satisfying moment when industry, determination and study reaps its due reward, no one is in the least interested in considering a cost-benefit analysis of a university education, either for the student or the taxpayer. Who knows where Evie’s drama degree will propel her in her future life, and who cares yet whether it will give her extra earning power? All I know is this: as someone who never went to university, I envy her these next few years of experiencing what independence really means, making firm friendships and emotional discovery. Also, just learning stuff.
That, more than an academic qualification, is what I believe to be the indefinable and unquantifiable value of a university education, and we should embrace this wholeheartedly, particularly in the age of helicopter parenting, virtual relationships, artificial intelligence and the sluggish post-Covid recovery that has disproportionately affected younger people.
