[Tom]

Originally Posted by angus58

There are plenty of careers that offer on the job training and education - and this obsession with sending kids into further education to the extent they are in no gainful employment until they are in their early 20s is, quite frankly, ludicrous. It gives kids a false and unrealistic sense of entitlement to a job in a world where it's dog eat dog and the early bird catches the worm.

Vocational courses are the way to go, earn while you learn and end up with a useful skill that will enable you to earn a living. It is even more imperative that student fees are raised and not funded by the taxpayer if such high percentages are opting to stay in education for a further 3 years.

I have two sons who both spurned uni and they're the ones laughing now, as they are in secure, full time employment, whilst many of their contemporaries who opted for a degree are unemployed. Because so many people are getting degrees, it has devalued the qualification to the extent that you literally have to have one to work behind the counter at KFC or McDonalds.

I think the problem lies in the over exaggeration of the economy and "lack of jobs". That gets people into the mentality of not being bothered to get a job because they don't think they'll find one and instead opt for gaining a pointless degree.

And if worst comes to worst when you're struggling for a job, if you can't get a christmas temp job in retail then the problem lies with you, not the economy.

I don't necessarily think vocational courses are the way to go, but I do think if something practical isn't for you then you can't go wrong with getting some A Levels. I just think too many people go to Uni when they don't need to and gain pointless degrees, a load of debt and a huge lack of experience. I'm doing a degree myself but through open uni whilst I'm working full time but hoping that leads to something else (Sports Rehabilitation), but I'm talking about people who just go and do Media or Sociology because they cba getting a job