Part of being a Trainee teacher in one of our seven Independent Christian Schools is the requirement to obtain an external degree from a recognizable university such as London University or The Open University.
As part of the ongoing discussion about the cost of third level education in the UK the BBC has posted a very informative article about the external degree programme of London University.
At present there are 45,500 students worldwide studying in this fashion with London University. It has been operating like this for 150 years. Charles Dickens called it 'the people's university'.
It is in part an encouraging vindication of the decision taken many years ago to commence our own training scheme for perspective teachers in our schools by using this programme:
1. Degrees obtained through this external programme cost much less;
2. They are every bit as 'prestigious'.
The article reads:
Universities must find more flexible and cheaper ways to teach, the government has said. Expanding chances for students to study long-distance is one such proposal.
For 150 years, the University of London has allowed students unable to travel to the capital to study for one of its external degrees - a system Charles Dickens described as "the people's university".
Notable alumni include Nelson Mandela, who studied while incarcerated on Robben Island, and five other Nobel Prize winners.
It currently has 45,500 students studying by distance and flexible learning in 180 countries, with another 6,000 students in the UK.
This is in addition to the tens of thousands of students - the majority - who study at the university's 19 colleges and institutions in the capital.
Now it is being heralded as a model for other institutions to follow, a way of increasing accessibility to higher education, without breaking the bank.
Read the whole article here
Hat-tip to my wife who pointed this article out to me.
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