By Ryan Fortune
Ah, the venerable four-year university degree, a relic of an era when knowledge was scarce, jobs were plentiful, and dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Today, as artificial general intelligence (AGI) looms on the horizon like a digital tsunami set to obliterate entire industries, one might wonder: why are we still clinging to this archaic model? Why do we insist on sending our brightest minds into stuffy lecture halls where they’ll memorise theories that have less relevance to modern life than Latin grammar or alchemy?
Let’s consider South Africa, where students are currently marching in droves, disrupting classes, and even staging hunger strikes to demand greater access to higher education. They want admission, financial support for accommodation, and subsidies for living expenses, all so they can spend four years immersed in academia’s version of a time warp. These young people are demanding the right to sit through lectures delivered by tenured professors who haven’t worked outside academia since their own graduation ceremonies decades ago. Does anyone else see the irony here? Or perhaps I’m being too harsh. After all, what better way to prepare for a world dominated by AGI than learning about 19th-century economic models or dissecting Shakespearean sonnets?
But let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment. What if these protesters aren’t foolish at all? What if they’re simply victims of a grand societal delusion perpetuated by universities desperate to preserve their monopoly on credentialism? After all, why wouldn’t institutions with centuries-old traditions fight tooth and nail to keep students funneling hundreds of thousands of rands into their coffers each year? Who needs practical skills when you can brandish a shiny piece of paper proving you’ve mastered the art of abstract thinking?
Now imagine an alternative universe. Instead of forcing students to endure four years of theoretical drudgery, we embrace a hybrid model that leverages AI, remote learning, and real-world internships. Picture this: students could access cutting-edge courses tailored to their interests and career goals, taught not just by academics but also by industry experts who actually know how things work in the real world. Imagine them gaining hands-on experience in fields that matter, rather than debating the finer points of existential philosophy while racking up debt that would make a small nation blush.
And yet, here we are, stuck in a system where success is measured by how many hours you’ve spent listening to someone pontificate about topics that may never intersect with your future employment prospects. Meanwhile, employers cry out for workers with tangible skills - coders, engineers, healthcare professionals - who can hit the ground running without needing months of retraining. But no, instead of equipping students with these competencies, we saddle them with degrees in “Critical Studies” or “Postcolonial Narratives,” leaving them ill-prepared for the workforce and burdened with crippling loans.
Which brings us back to those brave South African students protesting for more funding. Are they fighting for education, or are they merely advocating for the privilege of joining a broken system? Is it noble to demand inclusion in a structure so outdated it makes rotary phones look futuristic? And why should taxpayers foot the bill for a model that produces graduates who struggle to find jobs because their qualifications don’t align with market demands?
Perhaps the answer lies in reimagining education altogether. Rather than pouring resources into maintaining brick-and-mortar campuses and subsidising tuition fees, we should invest in platforms that allow learners to acquire relevant skills quickly and affordably. Let AI personalise curricula, let remote learning democratise access, and let internships bridge the gap between theory and practice. In doing so, we’d create a system that prepares individuals for the challenges of tomorrow, rather than anchoring them to the ideologies of yesterday.
So, dear protesters, before you march again, ask yourselves: Are you demanding access to education, or are you clinging to a fantasy of intellectual elitism that has long outlived its usefulness? Because if history teaches us anything, it’s that clinging to obsolete systems rarely ends well - just ask the dinosaurs. Or maybe don’t; they’re extinct now, much like the traditional four-year degree will be soon… unless, of course, we choose to ignore reality and continue paying homage to it.
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Ryan Fortune is an AI Implementation Consultant who helps businesses streamline their business processes with artificial intelligence. He can be contacted via his website here: https://payhip.com/ryanfortuneinc