Promoting employability

The acid test of any educational system is, ultimately, its ability to make students em­ployable. Measuring success by the am­ount of money a country spends on education is not only futile, but outright dangerous because it can lull us into a false sense of security about the way we are preparing our younger generation for the real world of work.

Educational statistics, while being very helpful indicators of academic achievement, can be very misleading because they may be hiding the fact that in some cases schools may be churning out the unemployable. A recent article in The Times of London highlighted the fact that one in five Britons of working age is in fact “economically inactive”. Many labelled as “discouraged workers” are increasingly giving up on looking for employment.

The surprising thing is that these “discouraged workers” are often described on paper as “brilliant students” with excellent degree results. An education columnist writing in The Times quotes the managing director of a medium-sized British IT company saying: “There is a big difference between people passing exams and being ready for work”.

So why is there so much disconnection between educational achievement and employability? Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco does not mince his words: “Too many children have been leaving school after 11 or 13 years of compulsory education without the basic skills to get on in life and hold down a job. On-the-job training cannot act as a bandage or sticking plaster for the failure of our educational system”.

A Confederation of British Industry survey reveals that literacy and numeracy are not the only problems. “More than 50 per cent of British employers complained that young people were inarticulate, unable to communicate concisely, interpret written instructions or perform simple mental calculations”.

The Department of Work and Pensions is equally concerned about the state of education in the UK: “Work is where the inflated claims for our state education finally hit the buffers. At every stage we have a system in which the expediency of politicians and the ideology of the educational establishment take precedence over the interest of pupils.”

The Times education columnist mentioned earlier identifies the root of the problems facing UK education: “We have children who can barely read and write scoring high marks in their exams because it makes the school, and therefore politicians, look good. We have exam boards competing to offer the lowest pass marks because it allows heads to achieve their GCSE targets. We have universities that offer a second class upper degree to anyone who bothers to sit down and take the exam.”

Some business leaders maintain that educators themselves may be making the educational system even more dysfunctional and detached from the real world of work. The high standards and values that many of the teachers of today were exposed to during their formation years are being abandoned on the pretext of being “outdated” or “patronising”. Lucidity, spelling, grammar, punctuality, discipline, and good manners are no longer seen as hallmarks of a good educational system.

Many employers in Malta argue that we are facing similar challenges, even if some institutions, like MCAST, are working hard to remedy this situation. We do well to learn from the experiences of others. We have a higher ratio of working age adults who are “economically inactive”. Only about 55 per cent of those between the age of 15 and 64 are in employment in Malta. In the UK this is well over 71 per cent.

In Malta, we have a higher ratio of young people who leave the educational system with no formal qualifications than in the UK. We must not ignore what these figures are telling us.

We owe it to our children to be honest with ourselves when we evaluate our educational system which is the key to our future prosperity. High quality educational standards that are implemented with religious passion are our guarantee to social and economic success.

Politicians, educators, and business leaders need to speak out about what needs to be fixed in our educational system and draw up a roadmap for achieving educational excellence. They also need to define realistic and relevant key success indicators that will help us benchmark our achievements with the best of breed.

No amount of spin or slick public relations can neutralise the consequences of a dysfunctional educational system that does not effectively promote employability. Jobs, after all, are the main element that promotes human dignity.

jcassarwhite@yahoo.com