What parents don’t know about University education?

Being a parent is hard work, first off juggling family time and a career can be extremely difficult, next is ensuring your child gets the best education at their school. Parents traditionally encourage their children to be the best they can be to truly max out their potential. But how much do parents really know about what happens behind closed doors? Are students getting the full educational experience that they deserve? Nowadays with the University fees at ridiculous costs, are students really reeling in the benefits of such high fees? I think the clear answer is no.

Whereas in school your every need is catered for, at University it is a different story, ‘independent learning’ is encouraged, meaning fewer lectures and less interaction with parents. Luckily speaking from experience I enrolled onto University before the new fees, so I ‘only’ have to pay £3,000 a year, and for that fee I get one lecture every other week. My parents were outraged when I informed them of this. At school, despite the learning perhaps not being perfect, you still have over 5 lessons a day and the emphasis is getting the student to learn as much as they can. At university where you pay to learn, parents do not know how much students are not getting. Sometimes on my course it felt like I was not getting taught how to be a journalist but instead how to pass exams and write essays. Parents should be careful when viewing what university their child goes too, many Universities are taking the easy route and instead of teaching students, they are left to fend for themselves, definitely not worth the ridiculous £9,000 a year right? Parents want the best for their children but how can a student maximize their potential with one lecture a week.