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https://theconversation.com/top-australian-writers-urge-albanese-to-abolish-job-ready-graduates-calling-their-humanities-degrees-life-changing-261743>
"“Earning a humanities degree was not only life changing, in terms of opening
up a world of knowledge otherwise beyond my reach, it also turns out to have
been enormously productive – for me and many, many people around me,” said Tim
Winton this week. “My little arts degree has created jobs and cultural value
for over 40 years.”
Winton is one of more than 100 high-profile Australians with Bachelor of Arts
degrees who have signed an open letter by the Australian Historical Association
(AHA). It urges Anthony Albanese to abolish the Morrison government’s widely
condemned Job-Ready Graduates package and establish an equitable university fee
system that “does not punish students who choose to study the humanities and
social sciences”.
Writers who have signed include Nam Le, Helen Garner, Tim Flannery and Kate
Grenville, who said her humanities and history studies were “absolutely
essential” to the writing of her books. The signatories range widely across
Australian intellectual life, from Megan Davis, co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue
and chair of Australian Studies at Harvard, to musician and former Labor
minister Peter Garrett.
In the lead-up to the 2022 election, Labor promised a review of the scheme. Two
years and two federal elections later, it remains in place. “The idea that a
Labor government would do nothing at all to right this wrong is utterly
mystifying,” said Winton."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
