Hesitate to say it, even ARRSE has a PC level these days. But if a job is terminally boring or unpleasant then the less well equipped in the smarts department you are the less hideous it's going to be for you. I'm back in full-time education because it was that or shelf stack/call centre until something else came up. No mortgage, no kids.. So why not?

Originally Posted by pombsen-armchair-warrior

Just to add to the debate:

Teenagers who complete two weeks' work experience at a McDonald's restaurant will be awarded a qualification worth up to a B grade at GCSE.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...exam-pass.html

and (a US study, but nevertheless has resonance with the UK situation)

They are the 'entitled to it all' generation to whom hard work is an alien concept. Today's young workers, it appears, believe they deserve jobs with big salaries, status and plenty of leisure time - without having to put in the hours. A study spanning three decades concluded that those born in the late 1980s - the so-called 'Generation Y' - expect to 'have their cake and eat it'.

Regarding the McDonalds story, I think the Daily Mail are, as usual, lying to whip people up into a frenzy for the outrage bus (like the made up story regarding facebook yesterday, which they retracted/made a clarification).

The BBC website said the placement is part of an 80 hour course which leads to a Btec, not a GCSE. It's just comparable to a GCSE.

"how to make a pizza, or a cake"

What learning how to cook from the ingredients is not a useful life skill?

"Also, make a box out of wood, play fcukin rounders, tennis, basketball, TAG rugby, french? "

errrrr.... Possible career choices in life ring any bells? Like Joiner? Sportsman? Working for a French company in the UK or maybe actually in France? Or dating a French chick?

" I would not have had a clue how to work a washing machine, open a bank account, pay a bill, setup a DD etc"

Learn what what Education means and the difference between education and life skills....

Originally Posted by amazing__lobster

The BBC website said the placement is part of an 80 hour course which leads to a Btec, not a GCSE. It's just comparable to a GCSE.

Eh? A BTEC First is equivalent to several GCSE passes and the Diploma is a two A Level/University entrance equivalence. But as the article says "forms a part of", just like turning up for your first lecture "forms a part of" getting a degree.

Originally Posted by Kitmarlowe

"how to make a pizza, or a cake"

What learning how to cook from the ingredients is not a useful life skill?

"Also, make a box out of wood, play fcukin rounders, tennis, basketball, TAG rugby, french? "

errrrr.... Possible career choices in life ring any bells? Like Joiner? Sportsman? Working for a French company in the UK or maybe actually in France? Or dating a French chick?

" I would not have had a clue how to work a washing machine, open a bank account, pay a bill, setup a DD etc"

Learn what what Education means and the difference between education and life skills....

You could argue that the UK is one of the few countries in the first world where 'life skills' aren't a compulsory part of the curriculum.

Originally Posted by Neuroleptic

What's the problem with Tescos? Not enough Oxbridge First Class with Honours Science Graduates applying to collect the trolleys in the car park for minimum wage (overtime compulsory; please note- no paid overtime)?

Crap jobs = crap applicants.

Unlikley......Just collect evidence of hours worked and payslip and present to lawyer. Stand back and enjoy. If Hours worked and accounted for = Min wage per hour then Tesco safe. If hours worked against wage slip does not = Min wage then Daily Mail here we come......

Do you really think someone in a large Company like Tesco's would be dumb enough to allow anybody to get away with unpaid overtime at Min wage level?

Surely there's an essential difference between working extra hours and getting paid for them (at the going rate) and working paid overtime... Or am I missing something?

Perhaps the point was that overtime is not paid at a premium (eg time-and-a-half)?

The question is whether life skills should be taught in schools: one could argue that a good level of literacy can substitute for 'life skills' coaching, in that someone who is basically numerate and literate can go out and find out for him/herself how to do these things.

An education system which encourages reasoning skills, rather than just spoon-feeds, would help that.

As would more robust teaching methods:

I don't want to re-open the previous debate over whether dyslexia is over-diagnosed. But a good friend of mine is dyslexic. He was put through the private education system on the public purse because it was seen as the only way to ensure that he could end up with the necessary reading/writing skills to get through life. This was some time ago; he's now in his early thirties.

Curious, I once asked him what was different and how he'd been taught to read and write. The answer was good old-fashioned phonics, which was how I was taught in the state sector years before.

Originally Posted by Biscuits_Brown

Originally Posted by Kitmarlowe

"how to make a pizza, or a cake"

What learning how to cook from the ingredients is not a useful life skill?

"Also, make a box out of wood, play fcukin rounders, tennis, basketball, TAG rugby, french? "

errrrr.... Possible career choices in life ring any bells? Like Joiner? Sportsman? Working for a French company in the UK or maybe actually in France? Or dating a French chick?

" I would not have had a clue how to work a washing machine, open a bank account, pay a bill, setup a DD etc"

Learn what what Education means and the difference between education and life skills....

You could argue that the UK is one of the few countries in the first world where 'life skills' aren't a compulsory part of the curriculum.

And why should it be? Education is about teaching 3R's plus Core subjects to allow children to make some reasonable stab at finding a career/job in Adult life. There's very few jobs where not having ANY educations features high on the list of desirable skills.

Life skills are what parents should be handling, like ID the Washing Machine best 2 out of 3 in the Kitchen....

If some parents can not be arsed to even learn those skills themselves why the f**k should I pay more taxes to teach them something I learnt for free. F**k mollycoddling them and pandering to their bone idle stupidity.