Time – Ken Robinson
“The Education Committee of the US Senate is currently considering the re-authorization of No Child Left Behind. Much of the original rhetoric in NCLB was about improving job readiness and employability. In a tragic irony, the focus of the last ten years has not been on improving vocational programs at all but on testing narrow academic standards. Overall, the impact on students, schools and employability has been baleful. This is the time to change. A study from 2013 estimated that almost 6 million Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 are neither in school or work. Although the unemployment rate for that demographic is on the decline since its 2010 high, it’s yet to reach the lows of around 10-11% in the past ten years. Meanwhile, there’s a widening skills gap between what schools are teaching and what kinds of jobs are available and needed. There’s plenty of work to be done, but too many people lack the skills to do it.”(more)