Here is a taste:
The original universities in the Western world organized themselves as guilds, either of students, as in Bologna, or of masters, as in Paris.
From the first, their chief mission was to produce not learning but graduates, with teaching subordinated to the process of certification -- much as artisans would impose long and wasteful periods of apprenticeship, under the guise of "training," to keep their numbers scarce and their services expensive.
For the contemporary bachelor or master or doctor of this or that, as for the Ming-era scholar-bureaucrat or the medieval European guildsman, income and social position are acquired through affiliation with a cartel.
Those who want to join have to pay to play, and many never recover from the entry fee.
Credit: Death by Degrees
I have always been attracted to the idea of doing away with certificates, exams and all forms of testing and accreditation as I believe the downdside is too great - see what Alfie Kohn has to say on the matter.
Having read the article, I am close to being convinced - imagine the joy of learning if it were untainted by tests, certificates and exams.
