来源：《卫报》
原文刊登日期：2022年11月11日
本文适合2024考生
Founded as the London Mechanics’ Institute in 1823, Birkbeck – which since 1920 has been part of the University of London – belongs to a rich tradition of which Britain should be proud. Birkbeck’s mission was to extend the Enlightenment to working people. Dr George Birkbeck gave lectures to craftspeople, but the new colleges were not limited to technical education. They also taught arts, science and philosophy. Birkbeck admitted women decades before the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
伯克贝克学院成立于1823年，当时名为伦敦力学研究所，自1920年以来一直是伦敦大学的一部分。伯克贝克学院拥有丰富的传统，英国应该为此感到骄傲。伯克贝克学院的使命是将启蒙运动推广到劳动人民。乔治·伯克贝克博士为手工艺人授课，但新学院并不局限于技术教育。它还教授艺术、科学和哲学。伯克贝克学院比牛津大学和剑桥大学早几十年招收女性。
That precious legacy is now in danger. Citing financial pressures, the college’s bosses propose to cut up to a quarter of all teaching staff from departments including English and geography, plus up to a third of administrators. The pattern is being mirrored elsewhere. These universities have shut or shrunk courses that don’t fit the government’s narrowing agenda.
这一宝贵遗产现在岌岌可危。伯克贝克学院的老板们以财务压力为理由，提议裁减包括英语和地理等院系在内的四分之一的教职员工，再加上三分之一的行政人员。这种模式正在其他高校得到反映。这些大学关闭或缩减了不符合政府财政缩减议程的课程。
These colleges are the places with the longest traditions of teaching working-class men and women, often part-time and in the evenings, sometimes as mature students returning to education years after leaving school. At a time when ministers are ostensibly committed to redistributing opportunities towards people and areas that have traditionally had fewer, it is perverse that these kinds of institutions are suffering. Bloated salaries (Birkbeck’s master, David Latchman, earned £380,000 in 2020) make decisions to impose cuts even less palatable.
这些大学有着最悠久的教育工人阶级男女学生的传统，通常是非全日制的和在晚上授课，有时是毕业多年后重返校园的成年学生。在部长们表面上致力于将机会重新分配给传统上机会较少的人们和地区的时候，这类大学正在遭遇困难是不合常理的。过高的工资(伯克贝克的院长大卫·拉奇曼在2020年赚了38万英镑)使得削减开支的决定更加令人难以接受。
Specifics may vary but, generally, course closures are blamed on deficits combined with falling demand. This followed the decision in 2016 to lift caps on student numbers, which freed the most prestigious universities to recruit more, but meant places elsewhere went unfilled. It was a crude measure designed to increase market pressures on an already fragile sector. As well as ongoing issues with underfunding, universities were hit hard by Brexit, which continues to affect research, admissions and recruitment.
具体情况可能有所不同，但通常情况下，课程关闭被归咎于财务赤字和需求下降。在此之前，2016年决定取消学生人数上限，这让最著名的大学得以招收更多学生，但也意味着其他地方的招生名额出现了空缺。这是一项粗糙的措施，旨在增加市场对一个本已脆弱的行业的压力。除了资金不足的问题外，英国脱欧给大学带来了沉重打击，继续影响着研究、招生和招聘。
Higher and further education have a vital role to play in addressing chronic skill shortages. But universities making cuts too often appear to lack any strategic vision or sense of accountability to staff, students and wider society. Undermining the humanities is not a substitute for workforce planning, or a stimulus to innovation. Given the unquestionable importance of culture and creativity to the economy, it is more likely to dampen growth – while increasing polarisation, as young people from better-off backgrounds hold on to chances that are denied to others.
高等教育和继续教育在解决严重技能短缺方面可发挥至关重要的作用。但是，削减开支的大学往往缺乏战略眼光，也缺乏对员工、学生和更广泛社会的责任感。削弱人文学科不是劳动力规划的替代品，也不能刺激创新。鉴于文化和创造力对经济的重要性毋庸置疑，削弱人文学科更有可能抑制增长，同时加剧两极分化，因为来自较富裕背景的年轻人抓住了其他人无法获得的机会。
Dr Birkbeck and his free-thinking supporters were right. Access to knowledge is a social good. The former mechanics’ institutes should be cherished. It means making long-term plans that can stand up to scrutiny. Currently, the stewardship by both ministers and managers looks far too scrappy.
伯克贝克博士和他的自由思想支持者是对的。获取知识是一种社会公益。应该珍惜这个前力学研究所。这意味着制定经得起推敲的长期计划。目前，政府高官和大学高管的管理看起来太过混乱。