“All officers ‘should have degrees’,” was the BBC headline. An adviser to the College of Policing, which sets standards for police training in England and Wales, said: “We are looking to have degree-level qualifications for constable and masters for superintendent.”

“所有警员都‘应拥有学位’，”英国广播公司(BBC)的新闻标题写道。负责设定英格兰及威尔士警察培训标准的警务学院(College of Policing)的一名顾问称：“我们正在酝酿要求警员拥有学位级别的学历，而警司拥有硕士学位。”

The college said that France and Spain already demanded that new-entry police officers have degrees and that inspectors have masters degrees.

警务学院表示，法国与西班牙早已要求新入职警员拥有学位，督察拥有硕士学位。

The college said professions such as medicine, nursing, law and social work all required university qualifications. The high level at which police officers operated today meant UK forces needed to consider degrees too.

该学院称，医生、护士、法律及社工等职业均要求有大学文凭。如今的高水平警务工作意味着英国的警察队伍也需要考虑学位。

It is easy to understand what the college is talking about. Dealing with cross-border terrorism, cyber crime and financial fraud needs sophisticated skills. Police forces that can attract graduates will probably benefit. But the idea that every officer needs to be a graduate seems wrong-headed.

不难理解该学院的意思。应对跨境恐怖主义、网络犯罪及金融欺诈需要高超的技能。如果能吸引到大学毕业生，警队很可能会从中受益。但是，要求所有警员都是大学毕业生的想法似乎是错误的。

I am fortunate to have gone to university: fortunate to have had the experience and fortunate to have had the skills that get you through school and into higher education.

我很幸运读过大学：有幸拥有读大学的体验、有幸拥有读完中学然后接受高等教育的技能。

There are plenty of skills I do not have — skills more valuable than turning out newspaper columns. They include fixing leaking roofs, replacing car brake pads, inserting catheters and disarming knife-wielding muggers.

还有很多比撰写报纸专栏更有价值的技能是我不具备的。这些技能包括修补漏水的屋顶、更换汽车刹车片、给病人插入导管以及制服持刀的劫犯。

These require training, practice and experience. I doubt that three or four years of attending (or skipping) lectures, trying out and discarding political philosophies, socialising and partying teach you any of these. The idea that university is the pinnacle of educational achievement denigrates valuable non-academic skills. This view is particularly strong in the UK which, as a consequence, has a poor record on apprenticeships.

这些技能需要培训、实践和经验。我不相信用三、四年的课堂教育（或逃课）、听完即忘的政治哲学、社交和聚会能够传授其中任何技能。把大学看作教育成就顶峰的观念，贬低了宝贵的非学术类技能。而这种观念在英国尤为强烈，其结果是英国的学徒教育乏善可陈。

Although the British government has made boosting the apprenticeship system a priority, a report last month from Ofsted, the education inspection service, said that a third of the apprenticeship providers they visited offered substandard training.

虽然英国政府已将振兴学徒制度列为一项政策重点，但教育检查服务机构——教育标准局(Ofsted) 10月发布的一份报告称，他们走访的培养学徒的机构中，有三分之一提供的培训不合格。