Today is the day when A-level students find out whether they have got a university place of their choice. UCAS are reporting that approximately 200,000 candidates will, once again, fail to secure a university place this year and with the introduction of university fees, it may mean that many will be left without further education.
Last night Channel 4 news reported that over 50% of those 200,000 that failed to secure a university place last year, ended up as unemployed. With unemployment reaching 2.5million yesterday, the stark reality is that the youth of today may neither have an education or a job.
As an Asian whose only option was to go to university, I feel very lucky to have been educated in the times that I was. Even for those who had mediocre A’level results, you could get into university as the clearing process was always an option. They were not oversubscribed and further education did secure you a job.
Today, Asian culture is not different in that parents have even stronger expectations of their children going to university. Manual or other skilled labour is rarely an option. However, today, there is no guarantee that education leads to a job. Recent graduates have had to take volunteering, unpaid internships and work experience to get on the employment experience ladder and found work more than a year down the line, often in unrelated professions.
For today’s generation, A-level results are more important than ever as the race for the University place is on.
Good luck.
Bunty
The Chatterjis Blog 