![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Sep. 18th, 2008 08:42 pmOh, God. I'm sorry, but I had to post about this - Graduates short on skills - CBI, wherein the head of the CBI says that many bosses were unhappy about the "soft skills" of graduate applicants.
He said many left university with inadequate communication and language skills, while some even lacked the ability " to get up in the morning."
Bwahahahah!!!
But wait - it gets even better :-)
He said so-called "soft-skills", such as time-management or communication, could be improved - possibly with specific training at university.
One example was the compulsory "World of Work" programme at Liverpool John Moores University which trains students in basic office skills - including turning up on time.
See??
In all seriousness though - that's not what Universities are for. (Well, not the real ones anyway!)
But we're seeing similar things in primary schools, where we're told there are children who have no idea how to use a knife and fork. And I see it every day in secondary school where there are children who have no social skills whatsoever.
Thing is - who taught us those "life skills"? I certainly don't remember my parents sitting me down and giving me a talk about what would happen when I went to work, but there must have been something instilled in me - and I'd bet all of you reading this, too - by your parents or whoever brought you up. And - at the risk of being "classist" for a second - if, as we're told, the Universities are still taking too many candidates from privileged backgrounds and not enough working-class kids, why do those people, who have supposedly come from a more aspirational environment, not have these so-called "soft skills"?
And is calling them "soft" really appropriate? I'd say they were bloody important - how you talk to people, making sure you turn up on time, pulling your weight etc.
Meh. You really couldn't make it up, could you?
He said many left university with inadequate communication and language skills, while some even lacked the ability " to get up in the morning."
Bwahahahah!!!
But wait - it gets even better :-)
He said so-called "soft-skills", such as time-management or communication, could be improved - possibly with specific training at university.
One example was the compulsory "World of Work" programme at Liverpool John Moores University which trains students in basic office skills - including turning up on time.
See??
In all seriousness though - that's not what Universities are for. (Well, not the real ones anyway!)
But we're seeing similar things in primary schools, where we're told there are children who have no idea how to use a knife and fork. And I see it every day in secondary school where there are children who have no social skills whatsoever.
Thing is - who taught us those "life skills"? I certainly don't remember my parents sitting me down and giving me a talk about what would happen when I went to work, but there must have been something instilled in me - and I'd bet all of you reading this, too - by your parents or whoever brought you up. And - at the risk of being "classist" for a second - if, as we're told, the Universities are still taking too many candidates from privileged backgrounds and not enough working-class kids, why do those people, who have supposedly come from a more aspirational environment, not have these so-called "soft skills"?
And is calling them "soft" really appropriate? I'd say they were bloody important - how you talk to people, making sure you turn up on time, pulling your weight etc.
Meh. You really couldn't make it up, could you?
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
