It wasn’t that long ago when individuals trying to enter many occupational areas didn’t have to have a formal education. Few arbitrarily established educational licensing requirements were mandated by the federal or a state government. If you wanted to be a real estate agent, a hair dresser, a cosmetologist, an attorney or a nurse, you got your training on the job.
Our current educational system requires hundreds to thousands of hours of classroom attendance to meet basic licensing requirements before a student can take a test and then perform what is often a relatively mundane task. Is the new system better than the old? I guess that depends on how you look at it. If you are an employer who doesn’t want to have any involvement with training, and you can shift that responsibility to an educational institution, it’s a great system. If you believe that all education is good, then again I guess that you would say yes. Finally, if you are trying to trying to keep the number of entrants into a field low, you increase the requirements for entry.
It has become over time education as a business, and I have a problem with where it is going. Just because political “representatives” get a law passed that requires 2,000 hours of education in a certain area to become licensed does not necessarily mean that the educational hours required will improved the quality of those who graduate from a program or that the public will be better protected.
Some educational requirements simply create jobs for educators. It is a fact that much of what an individual learns during their required education they will forget.
I don’t have to talk at length about the fact that the educational system is now beginning to leave students upon graduation worse off than when they entered it. When you get your certificate, diploma or degree the first thing that you will hear from many potential employers is that “you are not employable” or “you haven’t learned anything that will be useful to you in the position you have been educated for.”
Educators counter the “unqualified applicant” argument by pointing out that they have taught a student “how to learn.” So at the crux of the educational system is the theory that you may not be taught anything that is useful enough to secure yourself a job, but you will be taught enough to learn.
I always find it interesting that educational requirements often increase arbitrarity over time. This usually happens when there is a concerted effort on the part of some organization to keep out competitors. It’s not that the job that you are trying to get a license for now takes better qualified licensees it’s that those individuals who have licenses want to restrict entry into the business.
The reason that the educational system is now graduating thousands of students who are unemployable is not because the students failed to acquire an understanding of “how to learn.” It’s that they have been graduated into a job market that has been set up to be so exclusive in its design that it fails to give individuals with different majors an opportunity to compete.
When individuals attending vocational schools are more employable than those coming out of liberal arts colleges, something is wrong, and when the cost of an education becomes so high that it yokes students with tens of thousands of dollars of debt, that is also wrong.
Maybe I’m missing something, but I have seen campuses growing over the years, a lot of empire building has been going on, but it appears that relatively little attention has been paid to student costs and student outcomes.
When you think about the fact that schools have no way of monitoring the actual supply and demand for positions its easy to see how massive misalloctions occur. When there is a boom, like the dot come one we saw after the introduction of the Internet back in the early 1990’s, schools graduate many in computer related fields. When dot come jobs evaporated, many students just had educations that were relatively useless.
On the job training was better. When you got done with your training, you generally had a position and you knew exactly what was expected. You didn’t have to take a lot of courses that had no relevance, you oftent didn’t have to acquire a license and you got paid (albiet at a reduced rate) while you were training.
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I agree, the unemployed did not failed to acquire an understanding of “how to learn.”
Many are unemployed (or underemployed) even when they have finished a degree.
Here in my place, most of the employers look for applicants that came from “popular” universities. If you are not of of “these candidates” its very hard for you to find a “job” that fits your qualification.
Most of the time, people end-up in contractual jobs.
Yes I think its too much in the part of the graduates..spending a lot of money just to have a degree and be able to work in a white collar job, where in fact employers set a high standard on their qualifications which of course applicants especially the fresh graduate cant meet.
I’m frustrated that the educational system keeps developing new “specialized” programs. You shouldn’t have to go back to school just because you want a job in another field. Don’t tell me economists can be programmers, I followed that path, or biologist can’t be graphic artists, I have met them. That was a while ago, however, now they won’t even interview you if you don’t fit in the box.
Yeah actually. You know I really loved the part when you point out that there’s a required hours needed to be completed by the student’s to get hired that’s been issued by the government. As if it solves the problem. In my opinion only.
It is really an advantage to have an on the job training experience. At present, some institutions for education encourage and develop the curriculum or course to implement or to provide actual training for students. Learning from a classroom is not now enough to enhance the skills and knowledge of an individual or students.
Despite global crisis, still there is lot of jobs opening for different areas or field of study. But the problem is, many have no formal training about the jobs being offered.
We are now in the millennium year (information age, and uses of high technology).Information age, which mean in engaging a business you could also earn money. Uses of high technology, like cellular phones, computers, and etc we can make a business using this devices. Why don’t we try to shift our mind from our traditional learning to a new one? I’m not saying that our educational system is bad, we just have to be practical nowadays.
We all know that it is very important to be trained to get the job we wanted.
I definitely understand what you mean desiree. That was also my thinking before. To study and find job and earn money. One time a friend of mine shared about the reality in making money. Having a business is one thing that would help you earn money faster. Well, what can you say about this?
I agree with you OJT is more preferable and rewarding ..but do you think that before you have accepted for internships you will subject to scrutiny regarding your educational attainment? which goes back to the first level that we must finish our education(which means spending a lot of money) to be assured of a better future..
Hi, lyka! I think, OJT is practicing your profession, in preparation for your future, right? There are some course that don’t allow there students to graduate if they haven’t finished internship. However, based on my experience, you’ll not be able to have OJT if you still have a behind subject. Because its also a requirement for your graduation. Am I right?
As desiree mentions training for a job is important. But the world is changing in a super fast manner. By the time you finish with your training it has already moved ahead. The trick is to think into future needs and mold our training programs accordingly. Right ?
Education has become a business of making profits like any other business. Except that it has a aura of respectability.
You got you’re point, peace. But, do you think OJT is enough to mold us into the career which we studied? Well, there are some even after they have there practicum still they are not sure with it.