Unnecessary education

I noted with almost relief that a scaffolding course at a West Coast Polytechnic only took 20 hours of tuition instead of the mandatory 200 hours. Yet the Qualifications Authority deemed that the students were proficient at the end and let their qualifications stand.

I have long held the belief that we, as a society, are absolutely hogtied and bound by the need for qualifications. Most, but not all, jobs in today’s workforce could be learned by using a mentor in the workplace for a short time. My observation is that a newbie is pretty green for a week or so, not bad after a month and basically competent after three months. All without a student loan, a ‘‘wasted’’ year or two and being pretty much productive during the learning curve. Experience in the workforce, which covers attendance, ethics, attitude and ability (which may or may not have been teased out by today’s education system) are a much more meaningful addition to your CV than attendance for three or four years at an obscure institution whose only skin in the game is to get bums on seats.

This country, and I might add, many others, have wasted billions of dollars and saddled nearly two generations with unnecessary debt over the last three decades. There are some jobs that require several years of hard study to be proficient in them but I am of the opinion that most do not.

Geoff Orchard Ohaupo