Editorials

Why Top Set Kids Could Do Worse in Life

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18 August 2014

By Bronwen

Both schools and society have given our generation the idea that if you’re intelligent, you have to take an academic approach to your studies.

When you pick your GCSE’s in Year 9, you think that you have total freedom; unless you’re in a higher set. Parents and teachers are urging you to do academic subjects like history, geography and a language even if you totally hate them.

When we looked at the list of jobs required to get a visa to live in Australia, we found that the majority of jobs desired were vocational. The only academic based jobs the Aussies want are maths or medical orientated. Other than that it’s ALL vocational. Chefs. Engineers. Plumbers. Bricklayers. Motor mechanics. Social workers. Nurses. Midwives. IT experts. Childcare.

They don’t want you if you have an academic (*cough* pointless) degree such as history, English literature or philosophy. However, more and more kids are getting forced to go down the route of doing these types of subjects at university. There is a theory that vocational jobs don’t pay as well as academic jobs and this is so untrue. You can make a fortune in mechanics or running your own business and with a vocational route career, you’re more employable (as proven by Australia), so you’ll have a higher chance of earning money.

But here’s the main thing that we want you to take away from this article today: if you want to do something vocational, you are not inferior to the people doing Latin. There’s a stigma around girls doing health and social and boys doing engineering. But why? They have a trade. They can do something desirable and worthwhile. In ten years time, those boys doing BTEC engineering could be making a fortune working on the oil rigs and the kids who once sat and laughed at the people taking the vocational route could be wondering why they spent four years of their lives studying the History of Music.

To be employed in a realistic career, you need to be desirable, and the best way to be desirable may be to get a trade.

Think about what people need. In the average year, most of us will need: plumbers, electricians, chefs, hairdressers, teachers, doctors, nurses, IT technicians, shop assistants, cashiers, journalists, waitresses, etc. We can almost entirely guarantee that we will not need a Bible Studies Expert or a geography graduate to evaluate the land form of your garden.

 

 

 

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