Ed-you-kay-shun infor-may-shun!

It's not just that the calendar reminds me that it's back to school time.

It's not just that the efficacy of education systems must be questioned, as demonstrated so clearly by Miss Teen South Carolina.

It is partly because of my daughter's (no, that's MissTSC on the left!) changed attitude as she enters her penultimate twelfth year of school in Germany; she's decided that the school is there for her benefit, she's going to be as demanding as she is in Top Shop. No longer will she be just a compliant attendee but a customer intent on getting the invaluable set of knowledge tools she knows she'll need in the years to come.

That got me thinking about education and value... and cost.

Now my first school years were at a village primary in the heart of Scotland. But there followed four years of junior schooling in Dundee. At today's prices the cost in terms of fees would total GBP 33 thousand.

Then we moved to Edinburgh where the subsequent four years would today involve an outlay of GBP 31 thousand. My final two years in High School were in the United States and therefore at no cost. But then followed four years of college in Dallas, Texas, where the fees (again today's rates) would total USD 123,600.

Adding all this up I arrive at the stupendous total of over a quarter of a million dollars.

I hasten to add that today's figures are 580% higher than they were when I left college thanks to inflation. And the fees applicable back then were also not actually paid by my family since I had the good fortune to be the son of a Minister of Religion and thus automatically eligible for scholarships.

But I am pondering over what it means to have an education costing so many Franklins.



Wait, though! What did Ben Franklin say? "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise".

I guess two out of three is okay. Pity I flunked the courses on how to get wealthy.