Concordia trouble
Posted: February 28th, 2003 | Author: Kari Käsper | Filed under: university | No Comments »As a Concordia student I feel the need to explain why I think that the school is in trouble. It is a reflection of how the education system in Estonia is itself in a deep crisis and that private universities are not able to sustain the quality of education in unfair circumstances where state universities receive huge financial support AND charge half of their students. I would compare the situation with the problems that radio stations have had in Estonia because of the state sponsored BUT still commercial (ie using advertisement revenues) forced private radio stations such as KUKU to cut down on their programme and expenses.
If you have a university then there is not much to cut down without it having effect to the quality of education. Concordia has always been giving quality education, which is why it has been able to survive as long as it has with extremely high tuition fees.
The worst thing about the whole situation is the fact that although Concordia has been not very successful in marketing the university, the media smear campaign will not make many people want to come here. It would be necessary for past Concordia graduates and current students to tell that the quality of education has been outstanding when compared to other universities. The outcome of the negotiations with the Pedagogical University must come quickly and assure people that Concordia will be remaining as an independent entity. The longer the uncertainty exists the harder it will be to restore the credibilty and reputation of the university.
The problems that Concordia has had have been mostly with the administration, not faculty. And the faculty is what is very strong in Concordia and contributes to the high standards of education that people receive. I hope there will be a speedy end to the uncertainty and when I return for the summer semester everything is back to some level of normalcy.
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