Dmos87 - Well I agree I think going to college at 17-18 is way too young to really know and understand whats life all about.. well I think so.. maybe secondary school should go on till we were 20 or something ! I did my leaving at 16, way too young, I did well but was under so much pressure to decide what future I wanted... I am still deciding LOL!
The german system is better. They only go to university when they are 20 or 21 and then they spend 5 or 6 years there, becoming more specialised in their training.
We have graduates at that age ..21.. who have spend 4 years cramming.
The graduates then spend years looking for a job or doing extra courses to get more qualified...so what was the point of the 4 year cram.The point is ....that its not as if the graduates are desperately needed....the opposite is the case.
There should be gap years within courses so a student would have to take a year out in the middle of a 4 year course and do community work or something.
People have got to realise that education is an industry and of course the people running and teaching in the colleges want lots of students to train so they get lots of money from the gov.
In all honesty the benefits of working in the public service even with pay cuts is very clear, in a recession.Natinal school teachers and Gardai have it handy as once they start training they are guaranteed jobs when they finish....well at least the gardai.
And usually public service jobs are cushy and secure with opputunities for early retirement and nice pensions.But try getting into the public service during the recession!...you`d need to be related to the taoiseach.