Business and Education

Business and Education (April 18, 2012)

From the nobility of teaching which gives birth to renaissance comes the evolution and birth of an entity known now as Academic Corporation where universities and colleges are being run like a business organization.  Now let me put it out right off the bat that there will always be a conflict with this equation because “education is about teaching and learning” while “business is about chasing the profit” where the main focus is increasing revenues and minimizing cost.

What is the first function of business?  It is to create a customer and in the academe, students are the customers.  Student seeks learning and the faculty/teacher imparts learning but a student is more than a customer, a faculty is more that a merchant because in the long run education transform lives.

Ideally, a university should be run by an educator not by a businessman because for when it comes to perspectives, an educator will sacrifice profit to do what it is supposed to while a businessman will always chase the profit, never mind the other considerations.

Mixing education and business is a brew that will produce neither a favorable bent for education or business, they just don’t mix.  A side must be chosen, this blurring of the line must stop, and it is only harming the students.  At the moment, educational institutions are being run like a common branch of Mc Donalds and for an educational institution, there is just no substance.  All form but no substance.