Education or standard chasing?

As I live in Wales (UK) I am rather interested in education. But I am worried the way the devolved government and its subsidiaries deal with it all. Being a governor also means I am a bit more in touch with the way inspections are carried out, the pressure being put on the whole system all in the name of increasing standards. Whilst I applaud the need for academic education, that is to say need for scientists of all kinds, I do not subscribe to the idea that everyone has to follow that path. First of all what you see in university studies is a numbers game. Pack ‘m in and fill it to the rafters. As a result we get an enormous number of students with ‘mickey mouse degrees’. A fact borne out by industry bosses. An accompanying problem is the degree person having expectations of earning capacity way beyond their knowledge and capability. All resulting in very unhappy bosses and indeed very unhappy students as they find their employability being virtually nil.

This country is bedevilled by politicians of all kinds asking for increasing standards forgetting that not all are willing or capable of fulfilling this. Being students and pupils coming from many different backgrounds the aspirations, capabilities are also incredibly varied. The educational system today does not cope with these differences at all well. Besides it is easy to plug science education but it should be remembered that there will still be a need for people with vocational abilities. Not everything can be sorted out by robots, not now and not in the foreseeable future. But that is a different problem and needs thorough investigation as how to approach the coming cyborg revolution. In particular the social aspect. What to do with 8 billion humans on the planet of which only a tiny fraction will be employed. Well, educationalists, get on with it and solve that one as well. If you can get your backsides off the chairs.