I do not have all the facts of the situation at hand. However, I have no reason to believe that my friend would not have done all that. I do know for a fact t

I do not have all the facts of the situation at hand. However, I have no reason to believe that my friend would not have done all that. I do know for a fact that he is actively trying to teach the students those pre-requisite concepts himself. The dean should have talked about digging into the problem as needed (my friend also could have been doing something wrong; knowing him, I know he would have readily accepted his mistakes if that were the case) and help solve, instead of forcing him to pass the students. I do recognize that this story is not a good example of the Shirky principle. An educational institute is likely genuinely trying to solve the problem, which is to educate the students. That problem continues because fresh students keep coming in, not because the institute itself is preventing the solution. An educational institution cannot be expected to pursue inventing a solution that disrupts the education sector altogether.