1. 1 Public Seminar November 2 nd 2004 The Role of Higher Education in Society: Why Privatisation is problematic Kathleen Lynch, Equality Studies Centre, UCD www.ucd.ie/esc/annoucments

2. 2 Rise of (Not-so) New Right Politics in education The Great Silence in Ireland- Are we having privatisation by stealth? Are the people who are paid to protect public interest values in education doing so? The lack of a strong critical educational discourse a) in the academy and b) among the education journalists in the media: problem of Consensualism Market-led language has taken hold without a debate - ‘customers, clients, internal markets, choice, consumers, curriculum delivery, deliverables, work packages, … people are ‘out of the office’ ‘away from my desk’, Rise in number of corporate Universities – in the US – from 200 in 1970 to estimated 2000 in 2001 (see Merrill-Lynch’s publication, 1999 The Book of Knowledge: Education is seen as the new target for investors –once privatised Internationally there is an exponential rise in conservative ‘think tanks’: in the US they spent $1 billion US dollars from 1990-2000. They fund conservative- oriented research in major Universities especially in economics and law (Sources: D. Callahan, Report for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy $1 Billion for Ideas: S. Covington Moving A Public Policy Agenda. see also M. Minow, 2002, Partners not Rivals).

3. 3 Why Privatising Education is problematic The State is an in-eliminable agent in matters of justice: only the state can guarantee to individual persons the right to be educated. If the state absolves itself of the responsibility to educate, rights become more contingent- contingent on the ability to pay. Democratic Accountability must be distinguished from Market Accountability –A State-controlled higher education system can be held to democratic account in a way a private system cannot: in a market-led system accountability will be contingent on market capacity or resources No country in the world requires private universities to take students who cannot pay The absence of an individual right to higher education would mean families and individuals with limited resources would have to ‘select’ who to send to college.

4. 4 What Privatising education is problematic Primary function of a University is to serve the Public Interest – it cannot do this if it is dependent on private funding for research and teaching: evidence from several US private Universities Higher Education plays a key role to play in being the watchdogs for the free interchange of knowledge and ideas in a democratic society. The Universities’ role is to protect freedom of thought and exchange, and the right to dissent which is the foundation of a democratic society. Academic Autonomy will also be jeopardised: If Universities become dependent on private (corporate) finance, they face huge conflicts of interest -public interest goals are in conflict with the self-interested goals of profit-making bodies

5. 5 Impact of privatisation on research Strong incentive to undertake commercially-oriented research in a privatised system: 50% of life sciences faculty staff in the US are consultants to industry Prof. Lieberwitz (Law Faculty Cornell) Public mission of the University will become blurred into the private interest of market actors (R. Lieberwitz, 2004) Cost of basic research is being borne in part by the taxpayers. With privatisation, research findings are increasingly patented (privately owned, licensed and sold) there is a huge dividend being made to corporate bodies from public funds

6. 6 Research Example of Corporate influence  Intel, 4th Level Ventures and the CRANN project Science Foundation Ireland has contributed €10 million to a new Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) entitled the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN) in TCD, with partners in UCD and UCC (announced Jan 2004). Intel Ireland is CRANN’s main industry partner, and is relocating four Intel staff members to CRANN where they have a five year contract as researchers-in-residence at a cost of €2.9 million to Intel. While the collaboration is identified by TCD Provost John Hegarty as one which will help push TCD to the forefront of worldwide innovative research (Trinity Online Gazette), Intel is quite explicit about the corporate interests served by the partnership:

7. 7 Dangers of Privatising Education: what is taught is controlled Markets are driven by concerns for efficiency; education cannot be, as the education of those who will never be producers in market terms is still necessary, and education for work that is not marketable is still vital (e.g. caring work) Higher Education has a responsibility to educate people as members of civil society : in a privatised system, programmes that are not ‘profitable’ or market-oriented will be susceptible to closure Critical thought, especially critical discourses and dissent will be disabled by privatisation Disciplines which have a strong tradition of critical discourse and debate are not expanding at the same rate as commercially-driven fields of knowledge. With a small number of exceptions new Professorships have been heavily concentrated in the more commercial sectors of science, technology and business.

8. 8 Problems with Markets in Education: who is taught The collective benefits of education in society are more than the sum of its individual benefits- collective interests are not protected in a market system Fees in private US universities are averaging $30,000 - $40,000 per annum- huge debts incurred by lower income students so they only want to work in fields where they can ‘get a return’ to pay debts – negative impact of this on public service recruitment, community and voluntary sector employment

9. 9 Problems with Markets in Education: Limiting access to higher education Diversification of the student population – in the sense of increasing the participation of non-traditional entrants, those from low income working class communities, ethnic minorities, Travellers, people with disabilities -is almost impossible as there is nothing intrinsic to the market model of higher education that ensures diversification. Empirical evidence suggests that having education markets polarises intakes and reinforces social segregation as schools and colleges compete with one another for ‘good’ students (see Archer, L. et al, 2003, Higher Education and Social Class. London: Routledge,Ball, S. (2003) Class Strategies and the Education Markets. London: RoutledgeFalmer; Hugh Lauder et al., (1999) Trading in Futures: why markets in education don’t work. Open University Press). Nothing intrinsic to the market to increase diversity in colleges Evidence from Australia belies claim that marketisation will protect the interests of the vulnerable

10. 10 Why Democratic Public control of Education Matters 1.People have a right to education – Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14 (ICESCR) 2.Education is indispensable for realising other rights: education credentials play a crucial role in mediating access to other goods, including employment, cultural goods and political participation 3.Education enables one to overcome other social disadvantages. In a market-driven private system this becomes a secondary objective 4.Education has an intrinsic value for the development of the individual – for the exercise of capabilities, choices and freedoms 5.Education has a care function as well as a development function: this cannot be guaranteed in a privatised system 6.Education is a Public Good as well as a Personal Good- it enriches cultural, social, political and economic life locally and globally. In a commercially-driven system the public good dimension can be easily sidelined