The 2015 Popularity Contest (aka UK General Election )

[toffee matt]

What we do is stop these idiots from reproducing, too many layabouts who are trapped yet happy in the welfare system, I am a fan of keeping benefits and all but the young mums you see at 21 with 3 kids living off the dole for the rest of their days with no intention of working/having a stable family should be sterilised

This isn't China mate.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Go back to free university places.

Doesn't have to cost money though. MIT for instance put all of their course material online for free.

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

You can browse all of their support materials, watch all of their lectures. Pretty much everything an actual student can do. All you don't get is the certification at the end of it.

 

[Groucho]

Doesn't have to cost money though. MIT for instance put all of their course material online for free.

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

You can browse all of their support materials, watch all of their lectures. Pretty much everything an actual student can do. All you don't get is the certification at the end of it.

Would that be good enough for employers though?

 

[L4Everton]

Would that be good enough for employers though?

I think what he was getting at was 'education for educations sake', to 'better yourself for your own good, if an employer values that then its an added reward'.
A lot of what has been mentioned in this thread can be brought to the kernel of aspiration and the tempering thereof. Being a millionair footballer astronaut doctor might be a bit of a push, but wanting to work to get out of poverty and to make that aspiration a much easier possibility than it currently is is the goal.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Would that be good enough for employers though?

That's the big question isn't it? I was reading only this morning about the vast gap that exists between the two. I think something like 15% of employers (in the survey) thought graduate skills were suitable for work, but 90% of academics thought that they were.

There was an open innovation challenge on closing that gap run by the Economist Intelligence Unit earlier this year, and the winner was an app that aimed to encourage students to gain skills valued by employers (who were equally encouraged to share what those were). From the blog I wrote on it.

OnCampus is described by Cobbe (the winner) as like Candy Crush meeting LinkedIn. It provides a mobile and gamified social learning platform to give students certain rewards for developing and learning skills that are valued by employers.

The platform both tracks and validates your skills as you develop them through higher education, and generates a live employability score, both for yourself and for recruiters. The score is aimed to assist recruiters when hiring apprentices, whilst students also gain insights into the kind of skills that are valued by employers, and of course those skills themselves. Users can browse the site for particular companies, and gain access to the specific skills they look for.

They had a Google Hangout to discuss the project after the announcement, which you can check out below if you wanted.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I think what he was getting at was 'education for educations sake', to 'better yourself for your own good, if an employer values that then its an added reward'.
A lot of what has been mentioned in this thread can be brought to the kernel of aspiration and the tempering thereof. Being a millionair footballer astronaut doctor might be a bit of a push, but wanting to work to get out of poverty and to make that aspiration a much easier possibility than it currently is is the goal.

It seems increasingly the case that we need to take charge of our learning more than perhaps was previously the case. It's clear that the world is changing faster than perhaps has ever been the case before and that's requiring an adaptability to the skills required to remain employable. I'm not sure we can rely on paternalism to help us keep on top of those changes.

 

[Clint Planet]

It seems increasingly the case that we need to take charge of our learning more than perhaps was previously the case. It's clear that the world is changing faster than perhaps has ever been the case before and that's requiring an adaptability to the skills required to remain employable. I'm not sure we can rely on paternalism to help us keep on top of those changes.

Then the underclass will be left behind. The gap will continue to widen and children will continue to be penalised for being born in the wrong place through no falut of their own.

Not terribly satisfactory, really.

 

[SweetJesus849]

Seeing as a load of Scandinavian countries were mentioned earlier, with the whole education/social mobility lark.

Compare them. Scandinavian countries view education as the most important thing and stick to it. We pretend it is and lie outright for years whilst kids are growing up and then let them find out the hard way that we're really after experience more than anything.

British people are not unskilled, but we as a nation seem to be caught in the idea of "now" rather than actually being capable of planning any sort of long term success, and punishing for failure rather than helping through these times, when mistakes are just human nature.

 

[SweetJesus849]

I finished my degree nine years ago mate and it was the same then.

I wish there had been more emphasis placed on working hard to create opportunities for yourself during my education as it took me a little while to start working my way up the career ladder.

Bit disheartening to hear not much has changed in that respect.

The environment we have as a country has changed very very little in the past decade.

Although I've almost fully accepted that I don't think my career is going to properly kick on until I'm in my mid 20s. But the thing about working hard to create opportunities for yourself - is that easier said than done? As of yet the only real opportunities I've had job wise have been incredibly basic and have carried very little responsibility, which is something I really would like and as of yet haven't had much of an opportunity to have it.

 

[roydo]

Then the underclass will be left behind. The gap will continue to widen and children will continue to be penalised for being born in the wrong place through no falut of their own.

Not terribly satisfactory, really.

Part of me wants to type, "thats life though", and part of me wants to type "thats not right".

And both are right in a way.

 

[roydo]

The environment we have as a country has changed very very little in the past decade.

Although I've almost fully accepted that I don't think my career is going to properly kick on until I'm in my mid 20s. But the thing about working hard to create opportunities for yourself - is that easier said than done? As of yet the only real opportunities I've had job wise have been incredibly basic and have carried very little responsibility, which is something I really would like and as of yet haven't had much of an opportunity to have it.

It has mate. Loads.

 

[Clint Planet]

Part of me wants to type, "thats life though", and part of me wants to type "thats not right".

And both are right in a way.

No, it isn't an inevitability. Poverty is a political choice.

 

[mrs the esk]

All Governments prioritise what is important to them.

Poverty in the UK exists because the Government of the day have greater priorities than lifting the living standards of the poor.

It is really that simple.

 

[Groucho]

Do the Monster Raving Loony Party still exist?

They can't be any worse.

 

[Chang Elephant]

All Governments prioritise what is important to them.

Poverty in the UK exists because the Government of the day have greater priorities than lifting the living standards of the poor.

It is really that simple.

very true, and yet if the poor had extra income they'd use it unlike the top 5% that squirrel it away, so it may not even make good economic sense for the party of the paralytic rich (The Conservatives) to keep the poor poor.