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freedomdwarf1 -> RE: Skills Don’t Pay the Bills - The "Skills Gap" Myth (11/27/2012 7:18:47 AM)
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ORIGINAL: thompsonx
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These are kids who cannot read, basically. Sorry to be harsh...but kids who cannot read and cannot do basic math (they have remedial math as well) do not need to be in college. They need to be learning a skill of some sort. That isn't elitist; that is reality.
How does one learn a trade if they cannot read or do math?
What happens when you have a plumber,electrician or mechanic who makes a six figure income with no knowledge of history or political science and votes based on what the "news" stations tell them?
You don't need odd-ball subjects like History or Political Science if you are training to be a mechanic or a plumber or brick-layer.
I can still remember one of the BT TV ads where Maureen Lipman in a conversation with her grandson said "You got an ology? You get an ology and you're a scientist...". It lead to a lot of students studying for useless degrees like sociology, ecology, horology, psychology, theology etc. All completely useless unless you are going to study further in the subject and follow that line as a career.
But you do need the basic skill sets to do anything really - and that means English and Maths and possibly some basic science. Without these really basic skills you aren't likely to do much with your life.
Even something as basic as brick-laying, you need to work out how many bricks you need and how much cement you need to make up for the amount of time you are going to be laying bricks. As a chippy (basic carpenter), you need to be able to measure something and calculate how much you need to cut off without wastage. You need English to be able to read plans and drawings and measurements so you know what your objective is.
Too many kids these days just don't have these basic skill sets much beyond kindergarden level. How on earth can they apply for jobs, fill in requisition forms etc, if they can't read or write properly?
My stepson wants to be a mechanic. He went on a 26-week training course for basic mechanic skills. He did the classes and got a pass mark in all sections so theoretically, he is now a fully-qualified mechanic; but he's still pretty useless. If he ever managed to get a job in a garage, god help anyone's car he works on.
His reading ability is no better than that of a 5 or 6 year old and he can barely write his own name. How on earth is he going to read instructions on what needs doing and how can he write a damage and repair report when he's finished?? He has a pass mark (E) in English but that's so low it isn't worth the paper it's printed on - yet he crows about it as if he'd won a gold medal.
I wouldn't trust him to change a wheel let alone anything else - and yet he's now, supposedly, fully qualified as a mechanic. The pass mark standards and the quaility of the education system is absolutely appaling these days.
What's happening in many situations is that the skills being taught in the trades have also been severely dumbed-down to the level of the poor educational standards. That means our future tradesmen will be nothing more than trained chimps fixing our equipment or building our consumables that our lives may depend on (cars, houses etc).
A good tradesman is going to be in the minority in our future.
And you'd be surprised at how many these days that cannot read or write, are still looking at the pictures on the tins and packets on our supermarket shelves to buy their groceries. I think I read somewhere that almost 17% of all adults in the UK fall into the category of illiteracy or innumeracy.
That's a shocking statistic!
From the net as I was typing this post -
"The estimated cost of illiteracy to the UK economy is £81.312bn each year, according to a new report.
The interim report, released by the World Literacy Foundation, provides a snapshot of illiteracy as well as its causes and consequences in the UK.
The report highlights the statistic that at least six million adults in the UK are functionally illiterate, meaning one in five adults struggle with illiteracy.
It is individuals and businesses who suffer, losing about £58bn through lower wages or business earnings due to poor literacy.
In addition, this does not include the opportunity cost of individual wealth creation or entrepreneurship lost because a significant proportion of the population struggle to read and write."
One in five adults are struggling??!? That's the best part of 20% of the nation!!
Sheesh!
And those dumb-ass politicians are trying to tell us that exams haven't got any easier?
Who are they trying to kid, huh???
It's no wonder we are failing as a nation!
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