IT'S MORE THAN A QUESTION OF DEGREE.

It's always refreshing when an academic puts a head over the parapet, to disclose the nonsense within. The weekend's press produced such a character, in the shape of Professor Alan Smithers, Director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham.

Prof. Smithers questions the ridiculous pursuit of nonsensical degrees i.e. Stained glass windows or International Football Team Management. What on earth are we doing even contemplating such wastage of time from a nation that is so much in debt, due to deplorable economic management. We have to sit through the National news during August, listening to school leavers telling us whether or not they have made the grade for the Uni' of their choice, the abbreviation immediately explains to us that they treat life as little more than a soap opera. In many cases, the only thing that they will achieve is a large debt, with few prospects at the end of it.

The article discloses some basic facts that we need to absorb; Switzerland, with a far better GDP than the UK, has fewer graduates. Poland conversely, with a weaker economy than ours, has more graduates than Britain. There is little doubt that we go through this charade about this time of year, pretending that we are very clever, when the opposite is nearer the mark.

The way out of this dilemma is to get rid of the notion that a university degree is a stipulation to gain employment. All one really needs is common sense. The current arrangement does no more than keep the unemployment figure down.


WHAT A SHOCKING WASTE OF MONEY.