I sat through a briefing by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) yesterday on its proposed new resource on ESD. Quite why it is doing this, is still beyond me, as I have already noted. I didn't take part in the discussion as I don't think the QAA should exist and firmly believe that Universities, and the country, would be better off without it. Indeed, I view the QAA in the same way that Thomas Cromwell viewed the 16th century monasteries. This attitude is bolstered by the argument of the economic historian, Henry Hobhouse, who says that the dissolution of the monasteries released significant intellectual capability back into secular institutions and the community, which had a hugely beneficial impact. How true would this be if QAA were to be dissolved; universities and society more generally would be the better for it, and the public purse relieved of a needless burden – a classic win-win-win.
Go on; let's do it!
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