The next time you see a report on a failing school or a failing educational system that needs reform just compare it to the reports that we receive whenever the A level or GCSE results come out. Our schools are getting better and better despite what you may hear. They have to be otherwise we cannot believe the year on year improvement in results. The results are so good that academic degrees have become necessary for many jobs, not just the professional posts. If the goal is to get half our students gaining a degree then half the candidates for jobs will have degrees. Does every other job require a degree? Obviously not but there are so many personal gains to a degree that we can't complain if the degree doesn't fit the job requirements.
This week I heard a professional chatting. She didn't know the difference between east and west. It didn't matter for the chat, and it doesn't really matter in this context, but how many times do you hear people who don't know the difference between left and right but have academic qualifications? I am not complaining at the people who don't have basic common knowledge. Sometimes you just have a mental block on simple things. My point is that a piece of paper saying that you are part of an academic elite may not mean much.
Knowing left from right may be really important in some circustances but good communication is more important. You don't need to have basic information to get on well in life, but I would question the need for so many degrees as well as their value.
Change the world
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Trouble is...so many go to uni who are not really equipped fr it. I don't mean they are not bright enough....from my own experience as a mture student at a local university, there are so many undergraduates there who are there to please parents, or just to put off entering the "real" world...There are also many who really should be there. My minor is in creative writingh...when the course started in the first eyar...there were around 70 students, by the time we finished the degree...only 9 of us were in the group. My major is English...almost 200 started the course, around 60 graduated!.
ReplyDeleteIf I had had been fortunate enough to go to uni straight from A levels...I don't think I would have finished..or if I did...would have only just scraped through.
Sometimes you need the time out to find the right path through.
I did sciences and Maths at A level, and failed miserably at English, but thanks to our local college's brilliant access to Uni course..gained a place studying English...which isn't at all surprising..as I hate being without a book, and always have done.