Shot down in flames by fate, not by schooling

MAn plans and God laughs… I recall that spiky adage as youngsters, exam certificates in hand, start mapping out what they’re going to do with their lives.

I had a career plan that involved streaking very fast and very low across the German Plain in an RAf Tornado.

I did the psychometric tests. The question: ‘Do you sleep with the bedroom door open or closed?’ seemed innocuous but proved pivotal.

fighter pilots do not lack for ego and sleep with the door open.

This means they are suited to flying high, looking for trouble. ‘Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough…’

Door-shut chaps such as me avoid trouble and are better at treetop height in a sneaky no-see-um bomber.

In the end, none of that counted. Myopia shot down my dream of flight faster than any surface-to-air missile.

fast-jet pilots have eyes like hawks. The heavens rocked with laughter.

I emerged from school in the teeth of a recession. Career choices limited, many classmates ended up in uniform.

One guy wound up on that German Plain in the MILAn anti-tank platoon of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers.

Another pinched my dream and joined the RAf as a Tornado pilot, while a female classmate was ordained as a Church of Scotland minister.

One thing that unites most of us at 16 and 17 is that we haven’t a clue what we want to be. I was at a complete loss, though the RAf remained keen and pushed me towards being a dentist with them. I wanted to drill holes in Soviet T-80 tanks, not in the Wing Commander’s molars…

unplanned, I fell into journalism after answering an advert in the local paper for a trainee reporter.

And it’s one thing to have your opportunities pegged back by a sticky jobs market, another by poor schooling.

Children today must compete in a global marketplace, so the stuttering performance of Scottish schools in international league tables really matters.

STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – have huge significance as high-tech industries are crying out for fresh blood.

The carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived at Portsmouth this week. Many among her complement will be Australian or Canadian specialists in marine engineering, electronics and computing, such is the trouble the forces have in sourcing specialists.

Is Scotland stepping up to fill the gap? figures from Labour show falls of 14 per cent, 11 per cent and 12 per cent in the number of children taking maths, chemistry and physics since nicola Sturgeon came to power.

The jobs are out there. Getting teenagers to decide which ones they want is as tough as ever. But equipping them with the skills they need is not.

Miss Sturgeon weighed in on education this week – bemoaning the fact that Clarks called a girls’ school shoe ‘Dolly Babe’ and a boys’ one ‘Leader’.

It’s not what’s been on children’s feet that matters to firms when they’re recruiting, first Minister.

It’s what has been inculcated between their ears.