On 12/10/2010 09:00, Brimstone wrote:

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...
In message , Brimstone
writes

"Bruce" wrote in message
...
Ian Jelf wrote:
In message , Brimstone
writes
There is also the aspect that TPTB don't want bright,, educated
people
in their workforce. They cause "trouble".

Well, maybe not universally but yes, in my experience that's *very*
true!


It may have been quite generally true at one time, but it isn't now.
There used to be many millions of jobs available for people who were
illiterate and/or innumerate, but the number of these opportunities is
diminishing extremely rapidly. There are now very few jobs where at
least basic numeracy, literacy and computer skills are not essential
requirements - even ten years ago, similar jobs would not have needed
all three.

Employers can solve this problem quite easily, and do, by employing
people from the eastern "accession" states of the EU. Principally,
they employ from Poland because so many young Poles are well educated.
Polish numeracy and literacy standards are comparatively high. Such
is the low standard of so much of the UK's public sector education
that many young Poles also speak better English than people educated
here.

There is now a hard core of young British people who are virtually
unemployable because they lack one or more of the three basic, core
skills (numeracy, literacy and computer skills). They may drift into
and out of casual, unskilled jobs or they may face going through their
lives without ever being employed.

This indicates a massive failure of the education system.

Labour's "remedy" was simply to accept lower academic standards and
reduce pass marks so it appeared that most school students passed
their exams. That might have fooled the voting public for a while,
but it didn't fool employers who increasingly employed better educated
Eastern Europeans. Neither did it fool the Universities who have had
to set up remedial classes to bring new entrants up to the academic
standards needed to start a degree course.

You would think that this situation would cause the British working
class to look at their situation and decide to improve their lot by
working hard at school and going to college or university to gain more
and/or better qualifications. Alas, while middle class parents have
recognised the need for higher educational standards to have a better
chance of a career, the British working classes seem to have a culture
that is strongly anti-education.

They still expect their kids to get a good, well paid job when they
leave school as though it is a divine right. But many of them do
nothing to encourage their children's development. Some even deter
them from taking their studies seriously. Peer pressure also tends to
discourage serious study.

The inevitable result is an growing, uneducated underclass who will be
increasingly dependent on the state for most or all of their "working"
lives. Meanwhile, the jobs will go to immigrants, or companies will
move their operations overseas.

It seems to me that it is you who is illiterate if you cannot
understand a simple sentence, despite being able to write endlessly.

Yes, that was (sort of) my (puzzled) reaction when I read the (long)
reply to (my) post. (Seem to have bracket obsession tonight!)

Where did my assertion that employers can be in a way "frightened" by
"bright, educated people" lead to an assertion that the education
system has failed? In many ways I think it has and the early post
about the huge reduction in jobs requiring higher basic skills has
much merit. But the reply didn't seem to follow logically from what
I'd said.

I think we're seeing the Usenet equivalent of someone being "Intoxicated
with the exuberance of his own verbosity".


Or, had it been spoken, it could be abbreviated to VD or verbal diarrhoea.

;-)


--
Moving things in still pictures