Student population

Things aren't so glum to be honest. There's never been a better time to take yourself out of the workforce and start your own business.

I worked for years in various jobs, always earning just enough money to see me to the end of the week and my next pay packet. After seeing the job situation worsen in the UK I decided to bite the bullet, and start my own business and I've never looked back since.

There is absolutely loads of support for new-start businesses out there.

 

I agree and I'm second year of uni myself. Walking around campus thinking that a lot of people there are *

 

would love to go back to uni and continue studying but unfortunately with a kid, house and a car it's near impossible.

 

If you want to do it, go for it.

 

Its all about the grant money, and fair play to them, screw as much out of the goverment as you can...

 

How does one dress like a teacher? :smiley-laughing002:

 

I would like to think the people that go to Uni for legitimate reasons are doing themselves good.

But the large population of absolute trumpets I see whenever I am back in Glasgow knocking back the cheapest booze they can find talking with the silly homogenized accent really irritate me.

I am of the opinion the only school that really matters is the school of life and experience.

 

They just pull there glasses to the end of there nose and...wholla your a teacher

 

We aren't all that bad, i went to uni to start the next chapter of my life, get a degree hopefully a job afterwards and have some fun in between.

 

I wouldn't say it's the only school that matters, but it's certainly the most important in my book. Experience far outweighs sitting in a class listening to someone tell you about it.

 

I think people in 4/5/6th year at high school should get more of a choice to learn about vocational skills which could see them go into a career as a plumber, builder, electrician etc, if that is what they think they want to do at that age. It shouldn't be taught to everyone though. There will be a lot of people in schools who know they want to go to university to follow a particular career choice, I am at university myself and would have been apathetic towards learning vocational skills like that if I had to at school. During the Thatcher era, education was seen as a factory for the work force of the future, instead of maximising the potential of each individual child, which there is more emphasis on now and which I think is more important.

 

dependant on your career i guess. I left education at 15 so I never saw the value in it.

 

It's a really interesting point this. Right at the heart of the debate in fact.

I tend to see it the other way. I think we should look to equip young people with skills that can see them walk into a workplace and make a contribution to the economy. That seems to me to be a more productive use of everyone's time than having thousands of young people going to University to get degrees that are ten a penny or that they won't be able to use even if they pass them. We don't have the balance right just now.

We're short of people with vocational skills yet we have people coming out of Uni with degrees and having to go and work in McDonald's! I feel sorry for any young person that has worked hard at Uni, got their qualification and then finds themself in that position. It must be very disheartening. But I guess that's the kind of thing that ends up happening when you allow the student population to become too big.

Of course if we're going to use the education system to create the workforce of the future then we need to have jobs for people to go to. Which we don't. That's probably a whole other thread though.

 

I think, it would be ideal if, instead of education being focused around giving students vocational skills to benefit society, there were training schemes set up for the people who are passed the age of going to high school and are currently unemployed with no real hope. If these people could be trained with these vocational skills then this would also greatly benefit society while allowing education to remain a platform for children to build on their potential and develop an idea of what they see themselves doing after education. If going into one of these jobs is what they want to do then they could go straight into one of these training schemes. We already have things like it the now with apprenticeships, but something on a bigger scale may be needed.

If students are taught these skills in school from an early age, there is a danger that this will be what they see 'work' as, and have the idea that this is what they will be doing in later life without having much of a choice over it.

 

I think there needs to be more of a balance. When I was at school it was basically expected that if you stayed until sixth year you'd go to university. I'm not sure what sort of support those who didn't were given, but certainly things like apprenticeships were never presented as an opportunity to me. I think things like that should be given to kids as an equally good prospect rather than making them think that not going to uni means they'll never make anything of themselves.

Teachers are obviously targeted/rated on how many kids they send to tertiary education and I don't think that's a good thing as it isn't for everyone.

That being said I did go to university and read Business which helped me get my foot in the door with the company I am now working for. I purposefully chose something open ended (and a bit vague) because I didn't know what I wanted to do long term (so didn't see any point in doing something vocational). I do think the whole idea of a degree has been devalued by the amount of people who can now achieve them, although a masters or phd will still set you apart.

I think it's a double edged sword really, I don't think it's a good thing to deprive kids who want to continue to learn the opportunity, but I look at people like my sister who did Primary Teaching at Edinburgh Uni and is now applying for her first job with something like 6 people for every 1 position available and think its madness. An ever increasing pool of people for jobs that are just not available.

 

When I was at sixth form studying A-levels the teachers pushed everyone very hard to apply for UCAS and go to uni. There was never much talk of leaving and getting a job and certainly not much in the way of help with CVs and just discussing what you really want to do.
I was trying to persuade myself to go and do English but one day I realised right, what * chance is there of becoming an author or journalist that would give me a decent income and enjoyment in my job - not much chance at all.
Luckily held off going to uni and got a job in a bank for a year. During that year, which I enjoyed, I decided I would apply for uni but this time for something I enjoyed - Computer Science, in particular Web Development.
4th year now and I have mixed feelings. The experience has shaped me as a more rounded person. I am much more focused. Work-wise, financially and my plans for the future seem more open and clear to me. I've met some great friends too. My course could have been better, I feel the need to learn a lot in my own time in order to be up to industry standards.

Anyway, the good old days where the government would pay for students to go are long gone and Scotland surely can't hold on. It really is a crime to be honest. Although I do realise first hand a lot of people are going that don't need to and aren't wasters like some people think but they aren't given the proper guidance at the end of school. That's my two and a half cents anyway.

P.S. I hate students too

 

Some degrees are definitely worthless, my girlfriend knows a guy at Glasgow Cali doing a DJing degree. However, as others have said, getting a good degree can really enhance your future career prospects.

I agree that there should be better access to vocational qualifications that actively lead to employment at the end of it.

 

The fact that he most likely receives funding for that says it all really.

 

Either she or he is talking *. There is no such thing .

It could be audio technology electronics/engineering or something along that line. A DJ degree though that's a good yin :smiley-laughing002::smiley-laughing002:.

 

I think it's great that a lot of people have the opportunity to go to college/university and educate themselves. The bad thing as people have pointed out is the devaluation of the qualifications themselves. It's much like inflation, the more the price level rises the less your money is worth. A job which you previously needed a BA will now want a masters degree. I find that most employers are looking for experience, but it is tough to get that if nobody is willing to give you a chance. I'm really glass half empty about the future, I study business and most of it bores the * out of me, but it is the most relevent degree to pursue I think as 90% per cent of organizations are businesses. I don't understand people who study things like philosophy, study it on your own time, wit job is that going to get you.