Before opening my first of two schools in Cambridge I taught French and Latin at a secondary school near Oxford. I served as principal, owner and Careers Adviser in both my Cambridge establishments. I chose to head the Careers Department due to the rewarding nature of the role. Students would often come to my office apologising for their uncertainty about university courses or career paths. Contrary to their expectations, I assured them that uncertainty was normal, even recounting my own uncertainties about my future career plans while still managing two schools simultaneously.
After selling my schools, I moved to the Canary Isles with my family where I developed holiday properties and operated a small holiday company. Upon returning to the UK, I launched a less than successful lighting product shop before finding success with a serviced apartment business in Oxford. Presently, I manage a property company in Portsmouth and Oxford while living most of the year in my beloved Oman. I studied Philosophy and French at university, both non-vocational subjects and unrelated to my current or past line of work but subjects which still give me great pleasure. These differing and diverse experiences have enriched my life. Sadly there is a growing climate in which certain governments focus all their efforts on vocational courses at the expense of courses in the Arts and Humanities. The leader of the UK Reform Party, Nigel Farage, has stated in the run up to the General Election, that his Party if elected would oblige universities only to offer vocational courses such as Engineering, Business Studies, Nursing, Medicine, Computer Science and Electronics and would give no financial support for “Mickey Mouse Courses” which didn’t relate directly to a particular career where money could be earned post-university.
By Mickey Mouse Courses (his words not mine) Farage was referring to Humanities and the Arts. Perhaps Farage’s statement was influenced by his own failure to gain entry to university, because such short-sighted and uneducated views are not only wrong but dangerous for a country’s future. We humans have survived because of our ability to think outside the box.
We need people who are individualistic, innovative and at times non-conformist to face up to crises and to be successful in an ever changing world. Some of history’s most successful entrepreneurs and inventors studied Arts or Humanities at university. One such example is Leonardo da Vinci, widely celebrated as one of the greatest artists of all time. However, despite his talent for painting and sculpture, da Vinci also had a keen interest in science and anatomy. His scientific studies informed his artistic works, resulting in anatomically accurate and detailed depictions of the human body that were ahead of his time.
Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, was a student at Reed College in the US and majored in English. He dropped out from this course but continued to take other courses including studies in Shakespeare, modern dance and calligraphy. George Soros, one of the world’s greatest financiers and philanthropists, studied Philosophy at the London School of Economics. There are many more such examples.
Of course vocational courses have their place and are valuable in providing practical skills and preparing students for specific jobs. However, a society that only concentrates on helping students to follow vocational courses at university may face unexpected dangers. Japan recovered quickly after WW2. Its education system fostered a culture that prioritised uniformity and adherence to established norms over innovation and creativity. The Japanese approach to business whereby there were few if any dissenting voices amongst the employees was compared favourably to the UK where dissent and individualism was the norm.
However, when the world recession hit in the 1990s, Japan found itself in need of something it had never put much emphasis on before – innovation and individualism. The country's traditional approach to business which had been the envy of the world and had served it well in the past wasn’t able to pull it out of the world’s economic downturn. Japan’s problem was that its system of education had been geared towards producing workers who could fit seamlessly into the existing corporate structure. The Japanese focus on conformity and vocational training had not fostered the kind of creative thinking necessary to drive innovation in a crisis. Students had been taught to follow the rules, to value conformity over individuality, and to prioritise stability and security over risk-taking. Individualism was frowned upon.
It is true that the non-conformity of the British workers often leads to economic crises but when faced with these crises individualism and innovation have invariably allowed the British to ride them and eventually to overcome them. The British education system, by providing a diverse range of subjects, currently encourages students to think creatively and to value individualism. Any attempt to restrict university courses in the manner proposed by Farage must be firmly resisted.
Universities must not be merely vocational training centres. They must be centres of knowledge and intellectual exploration. By offering a comprehensive selection of courses across various disciplines — from the sciences and humanities to the arts and social sciences — universities foster critical thinking, creativity and a deeper understanding of the world. Exposure to a wide range of subjects allows students to develop a broader perspective, encouraging them to think beyond their immediate career goals to the future good of their country.
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