As a person who had no time for school and could not wait to get out into the world, I was, and still am, very grateful for the idea that you choose the person and not the piece of paper when it comes to work.
When I started, School Certificate and UE were what you needed to get into the media, or at least to have a crack.
These days you need a degree. I can assure you the quality of those graduates has not changed one iota as a result of several years of study.
The military is an awfully difficult place to recruit for, especially in a country like ours.
Just what is it you are offering? We don't do a lot; we don’t have a lot of equipment and we don’t fight wars. We keep peace and patrol.
So in a world where work-life balance and work from home and 4-day weeks are commonplace, average pay, Waiouru, and a lot of early rises aren't exactly calling cards.
So you simply now need three years of school. You don’t even need Level 1 NCEA.
Here is the thing – some people aren't into school. I know this because I was one of them.
Not all life choices, work choices, or skills are gained by passing Year 11 maths.
The military is as much about attitude and aptitude – it's a structured environment and it is designed for a specific type of person.
In places like America, they recruit people who may well struggle to get regular work. That is the way it is and it's a simple truth. They offer dental and medical in a country where you may not be able to afford it.
They offer a career and travel and opportunity in careers and trades you may not have even thought of.
Here you can be an auto technician, plumber or diver. They are the jobs on offer in the military with no skills. Could you do that in civilian life? No.
Being good with an engine does not mean you are good in class.
These are doors of opportunity
If the military through necessity can make it work, who are these outside snobs who still believe that exams and results are the sole key to employment?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
These days you need a degree. I can assure you the quality of those graduates has not changed one iota as a result of several years of study.
The military is an awfully difficult place to recruit for, especially in a country like ours.
Just what is it you are offering? We don't do a lot; we don’t have a lot of equipment and we don’t fight wars. We keep peace and patrol.
So in a world where work-life balance and work from home and 4-day weeks are commonplace, average pay, Waiouru, and a lot of early rises aren't exactly calling cards.
So you simply now need three years of school. You don’t even need Level 1 NCEA.
Here is the thing – some people aren't into school. I know this because I was one of them.
Not all life choices, work choices, or skills are gained by passing Year 11 maths.
The military is as much about attitude and aptitude – it's a structured environment and it is designed for a specific type of person.
In places like America, they recruit people who may well struggle to get regular work. That is the way it is and it's a simple truth. They offer dental and medical in a country where you may not be able to afford it.
They offer a career and travel and opportunity in careers and trades you may not have even thought of.
Here you can be an auto technician, plumber or diver. They are the jobs on offer in the military with no skills. Could you do that in civilian life? No.
Being good with an engine does not mean you are good in class.
These are doors of opportunity
If the military through necessity can make it work, who are these outside snobs who still believe that exams and results are the sole key to employment?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
9 comments:
Insisting on recruits having a Master's degree would be 'intellectual snobbery'. Insisting that they can get a few lower-level NCEA credits in basics such as English and maths is not.
Young people are legally obliged to attend school until age 16. If you can't get a few NCEA credits together by that age, you've got a serious problem. Either you are super-dense, or (more likely) can't stick at something and see it to completion. This does not auger well for training in a disciplined environment.
"Not all life choices, work choices, or skills are gained by passing Year 11 maths." is a downright stupid statement. Nobody makes any such claim, so this is the straw man at its worst. What Year 11 maths does entail is basic skills that any citizen needs to function properly in a modern society, not to mention young people following a programme of training in a trade.
Cannon fodder is easier to get if you let them through the gate easily. You can bet your bottom 'no time for school' dollar that the Officer Cadets applications have not changed. In war you have as many stupid people ready to die and Officers intellegent enough that try to not get that many killed. You cannot have it both ways.
True story. Prison guards went on strike. Soldiers were brought in. Day 1 had a talk to groups of prisoners. “We don’t know anything about being prison guards, all we know is how to shoot to kill”
The military have always been a great place for some wild folk to prosper.
Many gain skills and discipline as in life discipline to have great civi lives after they leave.
Aptitude is far more important than education.
What was lacking with the Manawanui debacle was the crew's aptitude for sailing.
The RNZN and NZDF had a colossal failure. They were criminally negligent in testing that aptitude.
A pure miracle no one died.
Well said Mike. And.... there's not much to recommend a new BA or BSc. Not much to recommend modern education including mad universities. Military education - regular lifestyle, discipline, action, trades training will set many a miscreant up for a worthy life.....
Re the second paragraph: "It shows."
It's inevitable , I see it differently having tutored maths and reading for 40 plus years including helping poorly educated students pass the exam. to enter the military.
These students were poorly educated because our education system had failed them . The majority were not ' super dense or couldn't stick at things'. They had for example not been taught their times tables nor the algorithms of basic arithmetic .They had failed to learn to read well because they had been subjected to instruction in guessing from pictures and context as is the Whole Language reading approach ;now conclusively proven to be a sure way of producing failure in too many students.
As I have said so often , but will repeat it - In NZ we have to our very great shame the longest tail of underachievement in the developed world.
That happened because we allowed ideologically driven ineffective methods of teaching to dominate for decades unchecked . Academia , , the Min of Mis education, and other educational institutions are responsible for this great underclass of barely employable youth we have. Not parents , not the students , nor even teachers but clever clogs at Universities and other institutions who had no sense of responsibility whatsoever let alone a conscience about our schools producing work shy , undisciplined , illiterates and in numerates. Those , at these lofty institutions need to be sent to camps to learn skills like social responsibility and empathy along with guilt about how they have destroyed the futures of so many of our youth.
This outrage against our iniquitous education system applies to the article on alternatives to prison also on todays blog. Same problem different environment . An ongoing callous disregard for those who fail to achieve in particularly the basics is characteristic of our present day educationalists. Just look at all the misery they have caused in so many areas. I label them 'Contemptible '..
You are EXACTLY RIGHT. I am a retired teacher [82] and fully concur. I remember years back, overseas teachers visiting to learn how we achieved top ranking results..
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