Charles Flynn

It is a shame so many students study courses and then abandon the subject. Hopefully there is some residual benefit in knowing about say engineering and becoming a banker.

 

I don't think it's really a shame. With a few notable exceptions (such as engineering and law) university is primarily about education, not vocational training. The basic 'skills' you happen to pick up along the way are common to the vast bulk of degree courses, namely the ability to analyse, reason and construct and present arguments for your conclusion at a high level are generic, and there's no real reason why someone should go into a degree course intending to enter their chosen subject in a professional capacity.

 

A large number of university applicants' main aspiration is to secure graduate level employment. For this they require three or four years in higher education and it makes sense that they will choose to study a subject they enjoy (and perhaps is related to their preferred area of employment), without necessarily wanting to work in that exact discipline for the rest of their lives.

 

The responsibility to some extent must lie with those who forecast the projected need for graduates.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by this. We don't live in a full on command economy where someone forcasts the number of graduates needed for a certain discipline and then allocates so many places at each university for that subject - the number of places available tends to be influenced primarly by the number of applicants and the amount of funding.

 

If people aren't taking up STEM subjects, it's not because of wonky forecasts or what have you. The reason such subjects attract less applications is as decades old: the subjects simply don't appeal to the vast majority of people and aren't prerequisites for the bulk of graduate jobs.

Many courses these days are vocational and certainly in my profession and from my personal experience of others regular surveys are done to decide the future needs for graduates. However it used to be the case that a university course was seen as intrinsically valuable but I believe - may be you know better - those days,with currently so many more universities and undergraduates, are long past in this competitive world,

Waste of life comments reminds me of all those people who you can see going to work from a city railway station - most rushing to get there on time, most looking completely drained. Perhaps we should be very thankful we live in the Isle of Man.

No one should think a so-called menial job is beneath them. There is much value is doing menial work - learning how to interact with others which is valuable experience in any work situation. No matter what life brings we should never think we are too good to do the most boring jobs.

My first job as a pharmacist graduate was dusting the counter. I feel privileged to have been trusted with the task.

It is a shame so many students study courses and then abandon the subject. Hopefully there is some residual benefit in knowing about say engineering and becoming a banker. The responsibility to some extent must lie with those who forecast the projected need for graduates.

I wonder whether in four years time many of those who have commenced business, marketing and related degrees will still be needed. I hope the forecasts are accurate.

Well all of us know we are in an untenable position. Our aspirations of upward growth and perpetual prosperity have taken quite a knock. There is a worldwide economic downturn which has been dramatically worsened here because of the need for the UK government to look after its immediate concerns.

Students have been rushing like leemings into studies which are not really needed in such huge numbers. Engineers, mathematicians,scientists, economists are but sadly these courses have been sidelined. So many have degrees which have little value in the jobs market - only the exceptional or the lucky are guaranteed employment in their speciality.

So what does our future hold? Has anyone in Government really got any idea? Has anyone produced a comprehensive study of all the options? Possibly we can no longer afford the consultants! Even if such a study was completed would our Government have the courage to tell us the findings.

The present policy seems to be 'steady as she goes'.... down!

Your reasons are sound. Obviously few will be attracted to a group who have not thought out their policies and what would happen if they are implemented. Most people usually go for evolution not revolution. But what will it be this time?

To change the Isle of Man so that long standing ties are almost completely severed would indeed be revolutionary. However there is no doubt that our relationship to the UK is changing in a way which would appear to be very unfair, indeed brutal from the island's point of view. A 25% reduction of income could be catastrophic. The ending of the reciprocal health agreement will be very distressing to individuals who are less well off and those with serious medical conditions as well as to the population at large living on this island and those who wish to visit us for whatever reason. The effect on what some see as an alternative to the finance sector i.e. the tourist industry could be ruinous.

The main point I would wish to make is that the young people who are passionate about the island and who want to see it standing more on its three legs do need to be cherished and should be aware of all the arguments so that their enthusiasm

and efforts will be for the good of our people whom I regard as all the residents not just a small sector with vested interests.

Let them talk to a wide assortment of people and then they can make their minds up on what is possible as we stand at the cross roads of where we should go for justice, fairness and the general well being of our small island nation.

Thank you for this....

There must be balance between passion and reason but politics is not an exact science. We do not want the whole fabric of society being ripped up but now and again anger at what is going on - incompetence, unfairness etc causes new groupings and individuals to initiate changes and policies which can be beneficial. It seems to me that we are at a time when some of our long cherished ideas on this island will need to be amended. Perhaps the young people can see this more clearly than the establishment can even if as yet they have not formulated precise policies.

I applaud the guts of the young people for standing up for what they believe even if they upset others.

It's a pity then that all we've seen so far is bluster and empty sloganeering.

 

I'd applaud it if there were some sign that this had been thought through and their beliefs reasoned, but so far it all smacks of attention seeking and setting up a mildly provocative bandwagon.

I suggest that to be an aspiring politician you should have passion. Reasoned arguments and policies come in the course of time for some - unfortunately not for all.

I thought her Courier interview showed her to be a young lady of some character. She has a sense of humour and has a down to earth attitude.

I applaud the guts of the young people for standing up for what they believe even if they upset others. Hopefully they will not be influenced too much by those who accept the status quo and see no reason why it should change.

Probably waiting for a meeting sometime in the distant future.

This is a very important matter for many island residents. Anyone who gets a degree through the OU deserves support. It was one of the best things Harold Wilson started.

It is good for the Island to enable its residents the ability to improve themselves and in so doing to better the community. I can see those at the Education Dept. examining the economic benefits of particular courses before subsidising students. But when will the students and those wanting to start studies know?