However, the two examples given by ...
>geoff.beacon@virgin.net:
>
> Radio 4's, "The Commission" concluded that many pupils would
> learn relevant skills by going out to work at 14 rather
> than being locked up in school learning nothing much of any
> value.
>
> As for graduates, one employer puts his view like this:
> "Many of them have been institutionalised by being in
> education until they are 19, 20 or 21 and have the social
> skills of a caterpillar." He may not be representative but
> there are other straws in this wind.(see www.faxfn.org)
>
... are shear madness and represent a profound misunderstanding of the 'need'
for education, what it does, and how it continues throughout life. Sure, for
many, learning maths beyond age 14 will add nothing of use in so-called
everyday life, neither will the (e.g.) history, english literature or science
taught to GCSE level. However, isn't it also important that people are
educated so that they can appreciate points of view wider than their immediate
working lives?
Of course, this could seem hopelessly romantic, but there is more to life than
work. Not everythinhg we do at school should prepare us for a job. It needs to
prepare us for social interaction. Humans are natural classifiers and
questioners. We 'do' education simply because it is in our nature.
And as for Higher Education, the immediate relevance of many degree courses
are, agreed, difficult to fathom, but again, graduates are trained for
thinking as well as doing, and it is extremely shortsighted to think that
every degree must lead to a job.
New Labour makes much of 'life-long learning", and this implies a continuum
which should not stop at 14, 18, 21 or whenever. If employers merely want
battery-farmed automota to do their jobs, then maybe the employers need a
better education.
-- Dr Simon Bale Communities Organised for a Greater Bristol 182a St Michael's Hill, Cotham, Bristol, BS2 8DE Tel. 0117 972 1701, Mob: 0976 234 983 e-mail. simon@cogb.demon.co.uk http://www.cogb.demon.co.uk -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- Posted to 3way, a service of Nexus. http://www.netnexus.org/ Hosting and email provided by new media consultants On-Line Publishing