Should OSAP be based on provincial & national needs?

[EnviroTO]

Part of the reason high school doesn't count for anything in the job market is that too many employers look only at the resume to determine who is a good fit and not enough at the individual. Many positions that employers fill call for a university degree when it doesn't really provide any benefit. All positions that call for "any university degree" obviously don't have specific requirements for any part of the university curriculum and therefore don't require university degrees at all. If the employer would determine through other means whether or not the individual is intelligent and can learn on the job then the time and money spent on university could be saved in these cases.

As long as employers require university degrees for jobs that don't require them there will be more time and money spent on universities than need be. More education is never a complete waste of course but money could probably be better spent.

 

[Fighting Madd]

Many positions that employers fill call for a university degree when it doesn't really provide any benefit.

It's a catch-22 there, since if I'm an employer, I'll ask for any uni. degree so that I can be reasonably assured that you can spell, read, communicate and think critically. If you decide to break with the norm and consider high school grads you're likely to receive a load of poorly written resumes from 20-year old adults in ball caps (I've never understood 20-yr olds who dress like teenagers - when you're eighteen, lose the cap, baggy pats and riced Civic and get a life plan together!)

 

[bizorky]

In addition to developing interesting and involved people, how about making it count for something? People are graduating from high school in Canada with poor literacy and mathematical skills. Ask any first year university prof and they'll tell you that they spend the first year just trying to correct spelling, grammar and prose. I can't imagine what a first year math or science prof must see.

I don't see why anyone is disagreeing with my suggestion to make high school count. What's wrong with training our young people so that by the time they're twenty years old they have the skills to get a job beyond McDs?

I don't disagree with the idea on having some portion of the curriculum being considered "practical." I just happen to think that your version of "practical" is narrow. You are the one arguing for a "cut-throat" attitude in schools; those are your words, not mine. Maybe you want to explain what you mean by "cut-throat" in the context of education. And also note, there is a considerable difference between education and training. Limit yourself to training because that is what you are making reference to.

As for university educators complaining about literacy and math skills, this type complaint is as old as the hills. What constitutes an appropriate level of literacy and numeracy has always been a moving bar, and the devices set to measure both capacities have been changed over time as well.

As someone who used to teach introductory courses at a university I am well aware that many students have problems writing relatively simple sentences. Then again, there are a good number who can write very well. Why does no one want to ever talk about them? The fact is that many students produce poor writing for any number of reasons, just try and ask them about it. One can't just turn it around and blame it all on the assumed failures of high schools.

 

[Fighting Madd]

Then again, there are a good number who can write very well. Why does no one want to ever talk about them?

Simple; because they're meeting expectations. It's those who fail but still pass through our education system that invite attention.