Kids don't need careers

Careers advice was a let down in my experience. Not only was it not very good. It was a reality check. It was an unwelcome accommodation. A reminder that the real world, as you were nearing the end of your school years, was about to let itself in. The cocoon of life in a bog standard comprehensive, while far from inspiring educationally, had at least held off the prospect of discussing prospects. But now, the inevitable disappointment of getting a job was near.

Of course there is excitement and a sense of possibility too, but it has to compete with the dreariness of the everyday waiting outside the school gates. Or in our case, it was the technical college next door. We suburban Brummies could see what was expected of us - literally laid out beneath the first floor pottery class window. The place my dad had trained to be a mechanic.

The yard where the bricks were kept for the bricklaying students wasn’t entirely new to us. In our final year, we (the boys) could opt for building studies. It was all good fun. You’d learn carpentry, plumbing, painting and decorating too. I’ve barely touched a roller or U-bend since. Indeed, I spent the intervening years doing all I could to avoid getting my hands dirty. But, thinking back, I really enjoyed the bricklaying.

And in a way, I’m back there now - desperately wanting to build walls. Around kids’ education. As part of its primary school careers programme, Department for Education wants to encourage those who haven’t been to big school yet to ‘think about future jobs early’. By linking their learning to ‘careers, training and skills’ the assumption seems to be that this will help level up ‘disadvantaged areas’.

Except, instead of building factories to make the stuff of the future, we seem to be stuffing kids heads with job fayre. But why stop there? If we’re to intervene early and familiarise young people with the workplaces of their distant future, why not start with nursery school kids? They love Lego and building things. Why bother with education at all unless it results in a job opportunity or a transferable skill?

This initiative speaks to a narrowing of what education is for. Instead of fostering a sense of wonder and excitement about what is to come, I fear the next generation could be staring out of that pottery class window too.