Excerpt from the "Robbins Report":
"28. Finally there is a function [of education] that is more difficult to describe concisely, but that is none the less fundamental: the transmission of a common culture and common standards of citizenship. By this we do not mean the forcing of all individuality into a common mould: that would be the negation of higher education as we conceive it. But we believe that it is a proper function of higher education, as of education in schools, to provide in partnership with the family that background of culture and social habit upon which a healthy society depends. This function, important at all times, is perhaps especially important in an age that has set for itself the ideal of equality of opportunity. It is not merely by providing places for students from all classes that this ideal will be achieved, but also by providing, in the atmosphere of the institutions in which the students live and work, influences that in some measure compensate for any inequalities of home background. These influences are not limited to the student population. Universities and colleges have an important role to play in the general cultural life of the communities in which they are situated."
[bold face is mine]
Not sure whether to lough or to cry. What would Robbins think if he saw how the British Education System does exactly the opposite from what he assumed is its purpose?
Full report: http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/robbins/robbins1963.html
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