PARAGRAPH 1: The payment of fees by students is widely seen as a novelty. In fact this ‘innovation’ marks a return to the…

TEXT D

PARAGRAPH 1: The payment of fees by students is widely seen as a novelty. In fact this ‘innovation’ marks a return to the medieval origins of universities. At that time student money meant student power on a huge scale. Medieval student power was focused on the University of Bologna. […] This power was based on their economic grip over their teachers.[…] Most university lecturers depended for their academic incomes on teaching fees collected from their students. […] The power which students derived from paying fees at Bologna led to extensive control over the lecturing system. […]

PARAGRAPH 2: For what was a lecturer punished? He was fined if he started the lectures a minute late or if he went beyond the approved time. […] The lecturer was also fined if he failed to cover the syllabus according to an agreed timetable. […]

PARAGRAPH 3: All students were encouraged to denounce lecturers who were absent without leave or who contravened the statutes in any other way. In addition, there was also an organized system of secret denunciations. Four students were elected in secret to spy on the lecturers. […]

PARAGRAPH 4: Student power at Bologna lasted a little over one hundred years […] As __ its rise, its demise is linked directly __ the subject __ student fees. By 1350 almost all the lecturers were appointed and paid __ the local commune. With changes in the payment of lecturers, control of the university passed __ the students to the commune and there it would remain.

PARAGRAPH 5: What does the situation in medieval Bologna have to say to us? Hopefully the return of student fees will not be accompanied by the return of student spies, secret denunciations and fines on lecturers. But, as ever greater emphasis is placed on research, the Bolognese case may be a timely reminder of the demands of students and of the importance of high quality teaching.

The theme of TEXT D is: