When he originally became Prime Minister, Tony Blair proudly announced his party’s mantra was “Education, Education, Education�. A worthy enough focus and certainly not an area one would think of associating with frustration and increasing personal debt. But over the years, as more and more institutions have gained university status, and student loans have become effortlessly available to all, schools have encouraged many more young people to go for degrees without really pointing out the cost.

It’s not in question that we require a more educated society, but are youngsters really obtaining the very best advice? In reality; is it such a hard sell to persuade an eighteen year old to leave home and live with mates, not concern themselves about getting a job for three or four years and get cheap beer at the university bar. A simplified interpretation maybe – naturally there’s a bit of studying to be done, and a degree of juggling to keep afloat, then the rewards will be worth it in years to come. But is that really so? For a great deal of families, the price of university education lasts for many years after graduation, both in financial and social terms.

The student loan system (the best method of funding for students at university), tuition fees, rent and general costs of living over the course duration can set you back well over thirty grand – without any guarantee of work. It’s not a funny joke that freedom-seeking teenagers out to conquer the world too often become back-at-home twenty-somethings who haven’t even conquered their first job. Not only do mums and dads continue having to pay for everything, but frustrated adult children back home again can obviously make things awkward!

Formal education can be a rewarding time for young people, and is the only road for many of our professions. But schools and parents ought to know that in some disciplines, there are other, sometimes more advanced alternatives. In the world of Information Technology, employers are desperate for commercially qualified IT professionals. Those who’ve been to University regularly need to top up their IT training skills to be ready for work and fare in the job market with Microsoft, CompTIA or Cisco professionals. The sad fact is they could have qualified two to three years earlier and not had a unmanageable debt had they gone straight to a global online computer training provider. Maybe drinking in the college bar isn’t quite so cheap after all – certainly the bank of mum and dad would be a lot less depleted, and there’d likely be more seating left on the sofa!.

(C) Scott Edwards - www.learninglolly.com. Scott Edwards has been involved in the IT and Training Industry for 30 years.

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