Common sense at last
The headlines this morning gave me hope that someone with common sense is leading the country. Andy Burnham, our new Prime Minister, has declared that he will put practical education on a par with academia. Perhaps now we will stop encouraging all and sundry to go to university whether or not they have the aptitude. Perhaps now we will begin to value the artisans, without whom, for example, houses would not be built and maintained.
I hope he remembers to pass his declaration on to the teachers. Rachel
ReplyDeleteI agree, Rachel. I hope he, or the Education Minister can convince the teachers. (Not holding my breath here.)Too many teachers think all children should aspire to academia and too many youngsters drop out after the first year of university because they realise it's not right for them. What a waste.
ReplyDeleteBlue collar workers are as important as white collars.
ReplyDeleteI agree. We all need each other in this world.
ReplyDeleteIt had to be said and done of course. Though going to Uni is also a rite of passage but the practical world also beckons. Whenever I look at a cathedral or church intricately carved and built, I wonder if there are any people around today who could work with such care.
ReplyDeleteStone masons, like thatchers, are in short supply, their skills highly valued.
DeleteEncouraging everyone to go to university was such a destructive idea, both for the students and the universities.
ReplyDeleteIt was a terrible idea.
Deletehigher education isn't for everyone.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what I use to say to anxious parents worried about their children's prospects.
DeleteReally horrible what is happening, I'm glad I'm retired, though it's only been a good year, but still :))
ReplyDeleteGreetings from my Slovenia, Andreja, and of course, welcome to my blog!
Welcome. The world can be a troublesome place!
DeleteI don’t know about there, but here, education is directed by politicians whims, and teachers try to teach accordingly. As a former teacher, I get a little testy about systemic issues being placed on the teachers as if they have a lot of control and clout.
ReplyDeleteIt would be good if teachers could just be left to teach in the ways they find most accommodating.
DeleteYou have been going through Prime Ministers. I hope this one works out the way he's supposed to.
ReplyDeleteWe live in hope but not great anticipation. This latest one has been slipped in most undemocratically, which hasn't given him the best start.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's jobs like plumbers and electricians that are less likely to be replaced by AI I think. And they're vital.
ReplyDeleteI agree, on both counts.
DeletePractical education is very important. We can't do without car mechanics and construction workers, and those kinds of jobs provide a good income to people who choose not to go to college. There's no grounds for class snobbery there.
ReplyDeleteWe need all skills and professions in order to function effectively as a nation.
DeleteNot everyone can be the businessman or banker or doctor or professor; you need to encourage people who don't desire to take on a trade.
ReplyDeleteWe've been saying this for years. We have all sorts in our family and are richer for them.
DeleteNot many things more frustrating than politics and the lack of common sense. Fingers crossed that they follow through and do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteWe shall see - all too soon, probably. 😉
DeleteVery good
ReplyDeleteWe hope so.
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ReplyDeleteCommon sense prevails when all else fails!
ReplyDeleteHow true!
DeleteAmen to that. We need brick masons and carpenters more than art history majors! (And I say that as someone who considered an art history major.)
ReplyDeleteWe do, otherwise we have a very unbalanced society.
DeleteThis is something I have always felt and what is more - too many fairly bright teenagers have been kind of pushed into university education, only to find themselves saddled with debt and no degree level job or career at the end of it. Go Andy!
ReplyDeleteThe graduates fortunate enough to find jobs pay back their debt. The rest drift, in dead-end jobs, if they can get them. Terrible waste.
DeleteI have so many feelings about education vs learning. They're mutually exclusive in my thinking. There aren't as many opportunities as there should be for young humans to explore what they're interested in. The things that might bring them happiness, fulfillment, joy AND enrich the world are sometimes never introduced and we're all poorer for it.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of truth in what you say. We don't know what we're missing until we stumble across it.
DeleteI got a degree and a husband by being the first one in my family to go to university. No debt (student grant) but equally no degree level employment afterwards. My daughter got a degree, a master's degree, a husband and a mountain of student debt.
ReplyDeleteWould I consider going to university if I was a working class youngster now? No way!
The result of Blair's ambition to have so many young people in further education is that now, like your daughter, they have to get further degrees in order to get past the first tranche of job interviews.
DeleteI couldn't agree with this more. My son is academic and doing well at university, but he's looking at a career in computing and I suggested apprenticeships because that's a way of avoiding debt.
ReplyDeleteAs it is, he's also armpit deep in the maths, so it seems like uni was the right choice and at least it's a degree that has a chance of making enough to make it worthwhile. So many of the degrees aren't worth it.
And anyone who's tried to find a plumber in a hurry will know that we absolutely need more tradesmen, who will no doubt make a better living than some of the more frivolous degrees.
There are so many opportunities in computing these days. Husband, son and three grandsons are all in various forms - cyber security, data analysis and so forth. Good luck to your son. One of my sons-in-law is a plumber and never out of work. If he'd charge a decent rate he could be very well off . . .
DeleteThat's good news.
ReplyDeleteIt is, we hope.
DeleteGreat news for you guys....
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed.
DeleteHigher education is not for everyone.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Parents have been conditioned to think it is, that's the problem.
DeleteIf it is anything like here, tradespeople do very well financially, and so they should with many performing hard physical work.
ReplyDeleteMy son-in-law is a plumber and should charge much more than he does for his work. He's always in demand but very far from well off.
DeleteI really wish I hadn't been pushed to college/university. It was such a thing in the 80s. Tradespeople are always needed and earn a good wage and it was really looked down upon. I really wanted to learn how to sew in school but because I was in the 'education' tier it wasn't an option.
ReplyDeleteThat's really sad, but it was considered the best thing to do at that time. Schools/teachers have a terrible and deserved reputation for 'channelling' children at an early age, without regard to rates of development.
DeleteBlair has a lot to answer for. Maybe now we will begin to value our tradespeople.
I have no idea who he is, what he stands for or even what he looks like, but he is a politician and keeping one’s word seems to be an insurmountable challenge most of the time. Time will tell, I suppose. Or perhaps the musical chairs that has characterize Britain in recent years will continue.
ReplyDeleteHe's a politician, with all the confidence and self-belief that entails. I think he won't last long.
DeleteThis was a long time coming. Programs were not available for those who wanted to follow a technical route.
ReplyDeleteApprenticeships of one sort or another have always been available, just not widely advertised. Adacemia held sway, or tried to.
Delete**Academia** didn't do me much good, apparently! 😕
DeleteI hope you hope is well-founded and that common sense will, in fact, prevail. Many, many, years ago, when I graduated high school, university was peddled as that time's equivalent of what high school had been decades prior: Necessary and basic for any type of truly gainful employment. That led, in my opinion, to the erosion of standards and, indeed, everyone was expected - and accepted - to attend university. When I eventually became a professor and taught university courses, I understood fully well the complete and utter folly of that.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Robin. All (**ALL**) we have to do now is sort out the daft apprenticeships from the valuable.
ReplyDeleteI do wish Andy Burnham al the best with his vision for the Uk ,but I hope it turns out to be more than words that are delivered by his government.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Words are cheap and plentiful.
DeleteI have never understood why most people look down on others who do not have a college education. I agree with you, what would our world be without all of us that had high school education, and the jobs that are necessary for our world to run smoothly.
ReplyDeleteMy cousin graduated in 1963, her sister and family insisted she go to college. She was truly gifted cutting hair and wanted to be a hair dresser. Since she chose not to go to college, she made the other choice to get married and have babies. back then those were our 2 choices.
She did not married the boy she had loved all through school years, but under pressure to marry a College Man, and it changed her life for the worse.
to me, every job is important, we need both.
I do so agree with you. We all have something to offer and skills are to be sniffed at. What a shame your cousin could not follow her instincts.
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