Tom Mursell

Yesterday was an eventful day to say the least – it all started with a pre-organised session at Radio 1 where I was asked to be on a panel helping listeners with their career-related problems (not a music session, Live Lounge is next week…!). I didn’t really know what to expect although I knew the panel was made up of myself, Shaf Rasul (entrepreneur & online dragon from Dragons’ Den) and Kavita Oberoi (entrepreneur, featured in Secret Millionaire).

So I arrived at Radio 1 towers, cup of tea in-hand and I’m waiting in reception when I hear two voices I recognise; Chris Moyles & Aled Jones (who by the way didn’t go to university!). I didn’t know what to do; should I speak to them? Should I corner them for quotes for the website? Should I ask them about their views on what we could be doing to reduce NEET rates? Well anyway by the time I thought of what I would do (smile & say hello, by the way) it was too late and they were gone…

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It seems figures just released show that less than half of all students who took GCSEs this year received “good passes” (a.k.a 5  A*-C grades), and now it’s all kicking off again between the business world & the Gov’t! Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco, stated “Sadly, despite all the money that has been spent, standards are still woefully low in too many schools…Employers like us, and I suspect many of you, are often left to pick up the pieces.” Sir Terry by the way is an education advisor to the PM.

The schools minister Vernon Coaker has hit back saying “today is a day to celebrate. These are the best ever GCSE results with the biggest ever year-on-year improvement.”

So it all adds fuel to the fire in the argument of  whether the education system should provide young people with the skills they need in the world of work or a more rounded academic knowledge.

I think it’s fair to say the formal education system up until age 16 doesn’t provide much in the way of preparing young people for the challenge of the workplace, at least in my experiences anyway. In fact I even studied GCSE Business Studies and the most practical thing we were ever taught was where not to put a cup of coffee in an office (on top of the computer screen by the way)!

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