WIUWBY Ffflo PRESWED$MSDAY, MAY 24?,1989, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN THE EDUCATTON GAP> Fifteen per cent of workers under 25 are unemployed, yet good well-paying jobs go unfilled. The demand for skilled workers, sales staff, and service personnel bas neyer been higber, yet there is no one to fil the jobs. Education is supposed te prepare our youtb for a productive adult life. Clearly then, aur educational systemi bas failed. It fails te provide. reahistic skills, fails te inform about tbe opportunities available. and provides unrealistic expectations of wbat tbe real world is like. Even those young people wbo do get jobs easily after leaving scbool undergo a culture shock for whicb tbey are unprepared. Our scbools are geared tewards cboices - choices in the number, subject, scbeduling and difficulty of courses, but life isn't like that. At tbe entry level of employment a young person bas one cboice only - "Do it my way or don't work for me." If education is preparation for working, then an obvious goal is te make the transition a smootb one. The Durbam Region Action Committee for Training, an employers' group that channels federal government money into training programs, bad its annual meeting last week and tbe guest speaker, Dr. John Walsh from the University of Guelph, shed some ligbt on the problem. In extensive surveys of students, parents and workers, be found that seventy per cent of higb scbool students expected te go to university or community college, yet statistics show only baif of tbem would make it. What bappenened te the rest? Are they our chronic youtb unemployment problem? Amongst parents, the expectation of post secondary education is even bigber - over 80%. One focus of Walsb's surveys was the apprenticeship trades - macbinists, mecbanics, electicians, etc. - and our attitudes toward tbem. He found that both students and parents had generally positive impressions about the oppor- tunities available and the income potential, yet fewer tban 20% could see tbemselves or their cildren as tradesmen. Many of the students wbo don't make it to university end up in these trades and find tbem botb satisfying and rewarding, yet most learned about tbem only after leaving scbool. There are tbousands more skilled high-paying jobs begging for people te fil tbem. Our system bas a dlear bias towards higber education whicb is neither sustainable nor desirable. Teachers, wbo are virtuaily ail university graduates, bave inadequate know- iedge of any of the alternatives. My own experiences may not be typicai, but I find it difficult te recommend university te anyone. When I got my B.Sc. from -the University of Toronto, I discovered I was educated for jobs that didn't exist. When I did get work, I gained more practical knowledge in the first tbree montbs than I had in four years of university. Some courses are, of course, more practical than others, but there are a lot of uni- versity graduates, even PhD's, among Toronto taxi drivers. Training people for non-existent jobs is an inexcusable waste of both money and buman potential. New "graduates"' are tbrust into the "real" world to "find" tbemseives and more than haif end up in fields unreiated te their original goals. Wasb made no attempt te expiain the resuits of bis survey - be let the figures speak for themselves. But clearly, our educationai system impiants expectations whicb are both unreaiistic and detrimental to tbe economy. Walsh could have extended bis study into other areas, like sales, witb similar results. The stereotype of a saiesperson is the man on the front doorstep witb a suitcase fuli of brushes, bis foot in the door, and a line as smootb as wbipped cream. There may stili be a few such peopie around but the image is an affront to tbe vast majonity of sales people today wbo are seiling everything fromn airpianes te underwear. Some of the bigbest income earners in the country are commission salespeopie. Whetber in real estate, insurance, retail, manufacturing or wbatever, tbey keep the wbeels of commerce turming. Ultîmately, the success of virtualiy every business depends on sales, and as a result, a successfuli sales career is probably tbe quickest sbortcut te the top. Yet sales is a dirty word. Students tbink that success is a secure salary, a benefit package, 9 to 5 and weekends off. When I bire new advertising sales reps, most applicants find the idea of working on commission unnerving. They lack the confidence to base tbeir income on their own skill and diligence. Their schooling bas left tbem as uninformed and unprearedfor salesc reers as for skiiled trades. -r ROYAL TRAIN AT WIUTB C.P.R. STATION, MAY 22, 1939 Fifty years ago the Royal Train, bearing King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (now the Queen Mother) stopped at Wbitby on its way to Toronto. Members of the Canadian Legion Branch 112 formed an honor guard at the edge of the platform. Wh M.ChIWAv photo 10 YEARS AGO from the Wednesday, May 23, 1979 ecition of the WHITBY FREE PRESS " Canadian Unity was the theme of an address by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau at Henry Street High Sehool on May 18. " Progressive Conservative candidate Scott Fenneli won the Federal election of May 22 for Ontario Riding, defeating Liberal Norm Cafik. " Whitby Kinsmen Club is providing a softball diamond at Iroquois Park te replace one remnoved from Centennial Park. " Rev. Stanley Isherwood is the new rector of St. John's Anglican Church, Port Perry. 25 YEARS AGO ftrm the Thursday, May 21, 1964 edition of the WHITBY WEEIKLY NEWS " Fifty-two men will be out of work when the Ontario Department of Public Works depot at Whitby closes on July lst. " Whitby Reeve Everett Quantrili bas been named as Ontario County's representative te the Whitby General Hospital Board. " The Ontario County Health Unit bas been asked te report on the town's restaurants. " The Wihitby A and P store is selling nib roast for 49 cents a pound and two boaves of white bread for 39 cents. 75 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, May 21, 1914 edition of the WHITBY GAZETE AND CHRONICLE " Donald McKay, Ontario County Treâsurer since 1890, died at his home on Centre Street on May 13 at the age of 76. " The Board of Education bas asked the tewn council for $12,000 to build a new two-room school at Port Whitby and te repair the high scbool. *The late W. W. Taniblyn, former principal of the Whitby High School, bas willed $200 te the school for an annual public speaking prize. *The Kingston Road between Whitby and Oshawa is in the worst shape it has been in many years. WN -l % - ---l Zn