Education is a Requirement for the Real World
Created on 2008-04-10 04:12:32
The first eighteen years of everyone’s life is geared towards education. Primary education is started at around four years old, depending on the country you live in. Secondary education begins at eleven or twelve and can end at age sixteen to eighteen. For some people that is enough and are only too glad to leave their school days behind them and concentrate on work and the real world. However, the real world needs an educated workforce and leaving school without formal qualifications can be detrimental to your career prospects.
Leaving school without a high school diploma in the US, or GCSE’s in the UK, means that your choice of career will be very limited. Most employers identify these qualifications as the bare minimum and are often looking for additional higher education or vocational qualifications.
For those who pursue higher education, attend university or college. For many opportunities in the business world, a 4 year degree is a necessary requirement for entry level staff. For those who wish to be in mid to senior level management, a masters degree or MBA is often considered necessary.
People who left school with a high school diploma or less do have the opportunity to attain further qualifications. Local community colleges offer the General Educational Development (GED) for those who did not graduate high school. This qualification will allow individuals to attend colleges for degrees and courses.
For those in the workforce who require further education to enhance their careers, but cannot attend a full-time college, there are a number of options available. Prior to the proliferation of the internet, individuals could attend college in the evening and weekends. This took a lot of commitment from student and was a strain for them to juggle work, family and a degree. The internet has allowed individuals to study for their degree online. This can be done at home and at times that suits each student. Online degrees may have a number of days at a physical location, but the studying online is far less stressful than traditional part-time education.
One major player in the further education business is the University of Phoenix. It has 79 campuses and over 100 learning centers. It operates in most metropolitan areas and has nearly 300,000 students enrolled. It offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Despite its popularity the University of Phoenix has been criticized that its tuition is far more expensive than other Universities or community colleges.
Education is not something that stops when we leave school or university. We continue to learn in our jobs and through our experiences. Formal education is always accessible and often necessary for those who wish to have more opportunities in their career or start a new one.
