Alex Usher responds to an op-ed in the Globe and Mail where Sheldon Levy, interim president of University Canada West (UCW), discusses a UCW white paper (28 page PDF) proposing (in Usher's words) "there should be a university entirely devoted to the techsector, which involves a lot of work-integrated learning and the participation of firm representatives on committees that design and modify curriculum." Usher's four questions boil down to two good ones: why focus on the tech sector, rather than tech skills? And why not a polytechnic, instead of a university? But more, to me, this illustrates the issue that arises when industry designs education: it serves its own interests, rather than the students'. And that's why the education sector needs to be arms-length from industry, in my view.
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