Coming from a marginalised background, my parents moved to the UK for a better future – my better future meant having a better education, which they believed the UK education was greater. After all, in my own home country, the English language was favoured more – it is believed that being able to speak in English is a sign of ‘intelligence’ and ‘elevated’ in society. I believe the idealisation of the English language comes from the belief that “‘Westerners’ are better than us for many reasons rooted in colonisation which includes issues related to skin colour, currency and its status as a ‘First World’ country.” (Gurung, S. 2019)
Of course, adapting to a white-dominant school initially was hard (that is another story), but I realised that the education that I was exposed to was very… white. Whilst I understand it is my responsibility to research more and work hard more (this mentality I need to work on), I always felt I couldn’t connect with the course – I couldn’t belong. However, higher education was so valued in my family (and me) – after all, I came to the UK to have better education which is believed to be equal to having a better future. For example; greater job opportunities = earning/ securing more money and especially the UK education grades/ qualification is seen higher than my own home country’s.
Reading Race and the Neoliberal University was insightful. I have always been aware of the erasure of our culture, our history, our voices in the media and in the education system. I had first heard about ‘colonialism’ through a Bollywood movie called ‘Lagaan’, before that I was never exposed to the history of British colonisation (of course I still have a lot to learn). So, reading the paper I learned a new piece of history: the new key terms, the beginning of the higher education system and the formation of private colleges on stolen lands. If the infrastructure is built in these colonised lands, how can they (and we) say/ see the institution as ‘neutral’?
I believe that it is important to acknowledge history – the good and the bad. Erasing someone’s history means that people are still oppressed.
“Higher education as a personal responsibility” (Holmwood, 2018)
I don’t know if it’s because of my South Asian upbringing, but I have always been told and believed that I need to work extra hard, that I need to have a degree to somehow prove my value. In today’s world, job opportunities are very competitive so if you want to join certain companies, they will have certain qualification criteria that are expected. Only people who had access to higher education will have a chance. My own cousin when she came here from Nepal went back to college (later university) because she realised that not having a UK education meant she was not able to get into certain job roles she wanted to apply for – she had finished her higher education in Nepal, but had to start from the beginning because Nepalese qualification/ certificate was not deemed ‘valid’. However for her to afford to go to higher education, she had to qualify as a ‘home’ student first – after all, we are all aware of the huge difference in education fees between Home and International students.
This made me think about how higher education being ‘privatised’ and ‘personal responsibility’ is somehow catered for only those who can afford it, affecting marginalised communities and lower-income families. Education is always labelled as a necessity and valuable (socially, culturally and personally) – but Higher education is inaccessible to so many. It widens the gap for opportunities/ progressions for many communities as socioeconomic inequalities are keep being reinforced.