Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Useless British university graduates

Their education has failed them. Employers forced to leave jobs unfilled as they cannot find competent recruits

Almost one in ten employers will be forced to leave graduate jobs unfilled this year because they cannot find quality recruits, a report reveals today. Dozens will be left with vacant posts despite the recession because of shortages of applicants with the right workplace skills and degree disciplines. In some cases, graduates lack commercial savvy and the high-level communication skills needed to deal with senior directors and clients. In others, bosses struggle to find applicants with specialised engineering or scientific knowledge because not enough students have studied those subjects.

Employers recruiting in less popular industry areas or far-flung locations are particularly affected, said the Association of Graduate Recruiters. Its revelation that 8 per cent of employers expect to have unfilled posts this year emerged as competition for jobs among graduates reached record levels.

The AGR's survey of 225 employers says the overall number of posts available has been cut by a quarter - a squeeze similar in scale to the last slump in 1991. Starting salaries have been frozen and few bosses expect to boost either pay or vacancy numbers in 2010.

On average, 49 graduates are battling it out for each graduate job - up from 30 this time last year. Competition is particularly intense for jobs in investment banks or fund management, with an average of 82 applicants per place. For financial services it is 76 and retail 65. Some employers reported receiving more than 150 applications per place. Investment banking, IT, construction and engineering are among sectors which have squeezed vacancies particularly dramatically.

Yet some employers said they were disappointed by sloppiness in application forms. Others said they were considering introducing 'motivation questionnaires' amid evidence that some applicants are seeking work they have no interest in simply to get a graduate post.

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UK: Parents of unruly schoolchildren to be fined

And so the parent whacks the misbehaving kid and then gets hauled before a court for child abuse!

Parents could be fined or sent to prison if their children misbehave, under powers to be awarded to schools. They form part of a government White Paper on education to be published by the Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, tomorrow.

Most schools operate agreements under which parents and pupils undertake to promote good behaviour, but they are not enforceable. The new powers could see parents who fail to abide by them fined or given community sentences. In some cases, they could end up in prison if they did not pay the fines.

Mr Balls said on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC 1 that national curriculum tests for 11-year-olds and exam league tables would stay. The White Paper also spells out entitlements for parents and pupils.

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Throwing good money after bad

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is releasing $2.7 billion in stimulus dollars earlier than planned to help states confront increasingly tighter budgets. Duncan said Wednesday he is distributing $2.7 billion to states that he had planned to distribute in October or November.

The money comes from a fund for state government priorities that has very few strings attached. It doesn't have to be spent on education, although the administration hopes it will be.

Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement: "These Recovery Act funds will enable states to move quickly to protect critical jobs and will help states cope with their immediate budgetary challenges."

The stimulus law passed earlier this year provided about $100 billion for education. The department is releasing the money in stages and has distributed about $38 billion so far, though much of the money has not yet reached schools. "The department has done everything possible to get stimulus funds out the door quickly and effectively," Duncan said in a statement.

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1 comment:

Character Education said...

sloppiness in application forms,'motivation questionnaires are the really right words mostly in use be the employers.