大學不是所有 並非大家都要上大學

“All officers ‘should have degrees’,” was the BBC headline. An adviser to the College of Policing, which sets standards for police training in England and Wales, said: “We are looking to have degree-level qualifications for constable and masters for superintendent.”

“所有警員都‘應擁有學位’，”英國廣播公司(BBC)的新聞標題寫道。負責設定英格蘭及威爾士警察培訓標準的警務學院(College of Policing)的一名顧問稱：“我們正在醞釀要求警員擁有學位級別的學歷，而警司擁有碩士學位。”

The college said that France and Spain already demanded that new-entry police officers have degrees and that inspectors have masters degrees.

警務學院表示，法國與西班牙早已要求新入職警員擁有學位，督察擁有碩士學位。

The college said professions such as medicine, nursing, law and social work all required university qualifications. The high level at which police officers operated today meant UK forces needed to consider degrees too.

該學院稱，醫生、護士、法律及社工等職業均要求有大學文憑。如今的高水平警務工作意味着英國的警察隊伍也需要考慮學位。

It is easy to understand what the college is talking about. Dealing with cross-border terrorism, cyber crime and financial fraud needs sophisticated skills. Police forces that can attract graduates will probably benefit. But the idea that every officer needs to be a graduate seems wrong-headed.

不難理解該學院的意思。應對跨境恐怖主義、網絡犯罪及金融欺詐需要高超的技能。如果能吸引到大學畢業生，警隊很可能會從中受益。但是，要求所有警員都是大學畢業生的想法似乎是錯誤的。

I am fortunate to have gone to university: fortunate to have had the experience and fortunate to have had the skills that get you through school and into higher education.

我很幸運讀過大學：有幸擁有讀大學的體驗、有幸擁有讀完中學然後接受高等教育的技能。

There are plenty of skills I do not have — skills more valuable than turning out newspaper columns. They include fixing leaking roofs, replacing car brake pads, inserting catheters and disarming knife-wielding muggers.

還有很多比撰寫報紙專欄更有價值的技能是我不具備的。這些技能包括修補漏水的屋頂、更換汽車剎車片、給病人插入導管以及制服持刀的劫犯。

These require training, practice and experience. I doubt that three or four years of attending (or skipping) lectures, trying out and discarding political philosophies, socialising and partying teach you any of these. The idea that university is the pinnacle of educational achievement denigrates valuable non-academic skills. This view is particularly strong in the UK which, as a consequence, has a poor record on apprenticeships.

這些技能需要培訓、實踐和經驗。我不相信用三、四年的課堂教育（或逃課）、聽完即忘的政治哲學、社交和聚會能夠傳授其中任何技能。把大學看作教育成就頂峯的觀念，貶低了寶貴的非學術類技能。而這種觀念在英國尤爲強烈，其結果是英國的學徒教育乏善可陳。

Although the British government has made boosting the apprenticeship system a priority, a report last month from Ofsted, the education inspection service, said that a third of the apprenticeship providers they visited offered substandard training.

雖然英國政府已將振興學徒制度列爲一項政策重點，但教育檢查服務機構——教育標準局(Ofsted) 10月發佈的一份報告稱，他們走訪的培養學徒的機構中，有三分之一提供的培訓不合格。