Education

I posted this in the comments on another blog. The topic is whether Christian young people should go to university, college, or find a job. Here are my comments with a few additional thoughts:

I spent 8 years in university, and have a couple of observations.

1. it is possible to get a degree, but not get an education. Lots of people do. They get great marks and a degree from a well regarded university, and they are essentially uneducated. This might be OK if they received some sort of job training, but many manage to avoid education and job training both.

2. if you get an education through the process of getting a degree or diploma, it doesn't matter whether you work in your field or not. Get a real education and a lot of jobs open up to you, whether they are in your field of training or not. And get a real education and a whole lot more than a job will open up to you.

3. in some fields of employment a university degree is a prerequisite. We occasionally hire college graduates as computer programmers (and many of them do well), but today a university degree is the usual prerequisite to get in the door. Many of our new grads also have graduate degrees. A university degree is a prerequisite for most of the medical sciences (including midwives), accountancy, engineering and many other fields.

4. some children will excel in a college environment and stagnate in a university environment, and visa versa. Know your child. Trying to push a child into the wrong type of post-secondary institution is a waste of your money and a waste of the child’s time and ability.

5. I will encourage my children to pursue education, and to recognize that they will likely need to support themselves. A course of training with employment in mind will be helpful. Education is a lifelong pursuit; just don't forget about pursuing it while in university or college.

6. I maintain my assertion that university level courses in mathematics is excellent preparation for the mind if one wishes to then study the Bible.