Uni ....is it an overblown concept ?

[Evans Electric]

Just throwing this out in this season of  A levels etc  .

Was it advanced by the Labour Government under Blair that everyone MUST go to Uni  that cranked up this concept that discounting how clever you may be , you must get a place in uni. 

Yet there were once prestigious  colleges of advanced education  round here & in all our areas  that could take you through , say , the basic  C&Gs  that Sparkies need to ONC  & HNC   in electrical  & mechanical  studies.     In my opinion these courses were far more prestigious  than  many of today's  useless Uni  degrees  that won't get you any further in getting a job.

Our friend's grandson has just graduated with  , I think ,  a masters degree in Mech. Eng  .     Job offers so far seem to be in sales  on commission .   Go figure as they say . 

 

[binky]

Mech Eng should be employable, but I suspect lack of recruitment whilst Brexit is firking the economy.

Defo too many at Uni who don't really belong there. The Blair plan was to encourage a high skill, well eductaed workforce as a way of defeating cheap Chinese labour. Not a bad plan in it;'s own right, but the trouble is too many kids doing Mickey Mouse degree courses, like 'Media Studies', and Unis' as businesses in their own right just want 'bums on seats' so don't care if the kids just wasted 3 years and £50k to get a job in Costa! 

Uni's are no different to our favourite quango registration bodies - money first, standards second.

 

[kerching]

Uni's are no different to our favourite quango registration bodies - money first, 

FTFY

Youre welcome

 

[Murdoch]

I'm sure the push for the 50% was :

a. to reduce the numbers of people claiming unemployment

b. Generate money for HM treasury .........6% on the loans is pure rip off ....... then the reality is that the honest tax payer will pick up the bill for the loans as about 50% of the people taking degrees are not forecast to pay the loans off

c. improve job prospects - which is fine for some courses, but lots (we know  a kid doing a degree in sports journalism) there simply aren't the jobs available

I think it would be far better for the country as a whole to bring back the proper technical colleges ..........

 

[Evans Electric]

but I suspect lack of recruitment whilst Brexit is firking the economy.

Hmmmm    It  seems that he,s had a load of interview offers , like one every other day , but I'm not getting the full story .   The offer I thought he would grab , at Jaguar , he turned down .  More to this than meets the eye I think . 

 

[ProDave]

I left school, did an apprenticeship, went on to do a bit more at technical college and ended up with an HND.  I don't in any way feel I was deprived by not going to university.  In fact I positively enjoyed the fact I was earning money straight away (not much as an apprentice mind)

If I was faced with todays choice of take on a huge student debt (not that you have to in Scotland) there is no way I would want to go to university.

 

[Geoff1946]

I took the technical college and apprenticeship route to HND and found this perfectly suited to an engineering career. We were no less valued in the company than, "direct entry", graduates who were actually disadvantaged by their initial lack of industrial experience. 

However, that was near fifty years ago, and terminology as well as professional career development expectations have changed. 

The technical college , same building, same purpose, is now part of the local university. I suspect there is little difference in the content of the degree courses and the defunct HNDs.  It's the same with schools around here; they all seem to be, "academies", now.   An element of bull' I suspect!

 

[Tony S]

However, that was near fifty years ago, and terminology as well as professional career development expectations have changed. 

That just about sums it up!

I'm glad I'm out of the rat race!

 

[binky]

attitudes are wrong, you don't go to uni for a degree, you invest in yourself to better your career ideally with a career based degree course, and not some ****e like golf course management. If the course isn't vocational, don't spend the money! I never went to Uni ( I should have) but later in life did an MSc with the OU - hard work, full time job and studying !  I didn't do much with that MSc in the end, because of industry moving out to China, so I got fed up with being made redundant and retrained as a sparky. So many people commented that I was over qualified, but you can't move houses to China, and that has kind of worked for me.,although I feel I never really achieved what I could of??? 

My son is currently at Uni studying maths and doing very well, now the important thing isn't so much the degree itself, but having got a years work with a large corporation, he's got the confidence to make it work  and has the work ethic to go far in life. In my opinion you need to teach your kids self confidence to aid them to realise thier full potential - NB I am not on about teaching your child to be a tango'd princess with an over inflated ego  :shakehead .  We also taught him a work ethic - you want money, earn it, and he has, anything from helping me with solar panels to working in the cornershop. Now need less to say we have helped and encouraged him along the way. He's now 22, thoroughly enjoying his year out in industry, got plans for the future, and told us what wonderful parents we were compared to his mates, who all seem to suffer 'mental health issues' (think we called it 'growing pains in our day). So feeling quite chuffed we did something right somewhere along the line  :^O

 

[Evans Electric]

It's the same with schools around here; they all seem to be, "academies", now.   An element of bull' I suspect!

That seems true to me  .   I believe the change to "Academy"   is more to do with the way it,s funded than anything else.    But geez does it sound posh !!!

 

[NozSpark]

the thing is that kids can't just go to Uni, get a degree and get a job.... most employers nowadays look at a degree as something to get someone an interview,,, during the interview they are much more interested in the "what else have you done"

 

[Tony S]

I had the dubious pleasure of having new graduates put on my shift when they joined our company. Brilliant in theory, practicality was questionable. The point of the exercise was to get them to know the process, the layout of the plant and practical fault finding.

I complained like hell about this imposition, in honesty I enjoyed it  :happybunny:

 

[FLICKER]

I think it would be far better for the country as a whole to bring back the proper technical colleges ..........

Might even find a place for you bud if they did......................

 

[Chewbacca]

@flicker I've warned you once  :yellowcard