My Saturday rant

Rhys

TPF Noob!
Joined
Jan 26, 2008
Messages
975
Reaction score
0
Location
Columbia, SC
Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
The only qualifications that have any merit at all are those approved by the education department of the government and taught in officially recognised institutions. A degree by MIT is worthwhile. A certificate from Blodger & Sprogget inc is toilet paper. Similarly none of the non-accredited places that claim to offer degrees/certificates are any higher academically than the average toilet roll.

Organisations such as Microsoft, Cisco and so on offer "qualifications" that are essentially toilet paper. I cannot fathom why anybody buys into that kind of nonsense. Today I found some organisation called the Professional Photographers of America was doing the same kind of thing.

Quite often I see an organisation here in SC advertising courses. The telling fact is that one college locally advertises their courses with the subtitle on their adverts "credits awarded are unlikely to transfer to other institutions". In other words their courses are worthless.

Education scams are so rife in America that I am very surprised the government hasn't closed the certificate awarding scams down. It's like a Bombay degree!
 
So what is new?
Education 'scams' like this have been around for decades.
I have a drawer full of certificates issued for bizarre courses I had to attend as part of my job when I was a teacher. I used to have them hanging in the toilet.
There are certificates you have to have (like Health & Safety courses) and then there are those that are issued 'to give the participator a sense of achievement and a degree of recognition for their work'.
In Education in the UK certification actually has another reason - funding is only given to courses that lead to a 'recognised' qualification.
I used to help teach a variety of disabled students at my last College. They were just therapy courses to get them out of their institution and doing something different. They seemed to enjoy it.
The funding rules changed and we lost all financial support because the classes did not lead to a recognised qualification.
So we 're-vamped' the courses, inventing qualifications and an assessment scheme and got the whole thing accredited.
The students then did exactly the same as before but the courses now led to certificates in shoe-lace tying and etiquette which meant we got our funding back :lol:
There is, however, a reverse side to this coin.
It is actually very easy to set up a course that leads to a recognised qualification - even though that qualification is ludicrous and the certificate useless. It's all about money.
Any accrediting body will recognise any course leading to a qualification if you do the right paper work and pay them their fee.
Companies use this to prey on the insecure.
Didn't get a qualification at College? Feel that this lack of qualifications is holding you back and stopping you from getting your dream job? Then register with the van Rental Academy and we guarantee that on payment of a suitable fee you will be given a fancy bit of paper to stick on your wall and make you feel better about yourself.
And there is the possibility that someone who doesn't know their arse from their elbow might be suckered into being impressed by it (but we make no guarantees in that area, you understand).
PM me for details enclosing $50 as down payment.
 
Right on!

I remember meeting some people who'd been advised by the UK Jobcentre to make a choice between joining a "jobclub" and doing the European Computer Driving Licence certificate. I advised them that the ECDL was pretty much toilet paper. Heck - the stuff they do on that is abysmally easy. The people behind the ECDL are the British Computer Society. Now you can't really say a lot more than when I phoned to find out about them, they asked me about my qualifications and told me that:

To be an associate member you just had to have an O Level in computing.
To be a member you had to have a degree in computing.
To be a licentate (however it's spelt) you had to have a Masters degree.
To be a fellow you had to have a PHd.

Well, that was so much complete and utter trollocks that I fell about laughing, which cheesed the moron on the other end off so much that he hung up on me. Let;s just say that since that day I have had no use for the BCS.

Later I met a guy who was proud to be a member. He was such a complete pretentious annoying idiot that again I was very glad not to be a member.

Then I saw a friend doing the ECDL and was amazed at the trash they were taught - not exactly wrong but highly opinionated and arrogant. "this is the ONLY way to do it" when in fact there are several different ways, each of which is either equal or works better under certain circumstances.

Yes. I have seen the ridiculous way that these fake qualifications are produced. I have also seen people demanding these fake qualifications too - as a way of filtering applicants. Got a certificate in toilet flushing?
 
That would be a GNVQ Level I in water management and control. :mrgreen:

What amuses me is that they produced all these GNVQs and none of them that are available are ever higher than level 2! It goes to show that the GNVQs are more a way of fiddling the unemployment statistics. The UK government can say that they're putting all the unemployed on courses to help them find alternate work while ensuring the courses are of such a low level and low quality that they never will find work. Meanwhile they eliminated grants for higher education - which was a worthwhile education system and which generally did help people to get into decent careers.

What amuses me even further is that every few years they come out with a new scheme.

Technical colleges were set up to teach to the non-academically inclined.
Then they set up HNDs, ONDs etc
Then they went through YTS (aka Yobbos Training Scheme).
Then they went through various other schemes before getting to the current GNVQs.

If they stuck to one system - the standard higher educational system and forgot about all the junk then the system would work far better.

Worldwide we need to eliminate all the fake qualifications. If I wanted to employ somebody here in the US then I'm just not going to know without extensive enquiries whether their qualifications are worthwhile or faked.
 
Now in all fairness we should not be picking on the Professioanl Photographers of America unless you wanna jerk the pit bull and swing it around to aim it at the NEW YORK INSTITUTE OF PHOTOGRAPHY! That's right. The place that let's you take the test right out of the book when the teacher ain't looking, which is pert near all the time? And what's the name of that doll head? Well, took her out on the range and she's kindling. I am a victim. I paid (an I dunno how but) seriously reduced price of about $600. Got these cute little booklets printed in the, like, friggin' forties or something, and audio cassettes of Dick and Jane spouting on about how they think apertures, are well, just plain fascinating. Jolly good and all that rot.
 
Then they set up HNDs, ONDs etc
Then they went through YTS (aka Yobbos Training Scheme).
Then they went through various other schemes before getting to the current GNVQs.

I've taught all of those. :lmao:
And the GNVQs came out of the NVQs which is what the YTS scheme delivered along with City & Guilds.
On paper the GNVQs are good as they provide a route to qualifications for students who are, shall we say, not academically gifted. The core of the system is that students learn by doing and then get credits for demonstrating that they can do the required tasks. In a lot of respects this system is better than a lot of academic courses where you get graduates with a Degree and who know the theory but are incapable of putting it into practice in real life. Now no=one takes them seriously.
Where the GNVQs have come to grief is through the Government funding system. The GNVQ has been abused, providing courses in everything you can imagine, in order to make money through funding and fees.
The YTS scheme - now THAT was a disaster. Trying to employ the unemployable. The tales I could tell you...
 
Heck, I know a lot about YTS. After I left highschool I decided to try a YTS course as some of my friends were doing them. It took me precisely one day to assess that course as a load of nonsense. I left and never ever returned then went onto higher education instead. I don't know how many of my friends actually stuck with the course but I don't think any of them got work as a result.

Oddly enough I followed an OND, HNC, HND in computing and that did not lead directly to employment. I ended up setting up my own computer repair business while some friends set up a data rescue business. The education I received on my OND/HNC/HND was very different from the skills I used for my computer repair business.

Then I did my degree and had a ball doing that. If I were redoing my education from start, I would never have gone for the YTS nor would I have gone for the OND/HNC/HND. I think instead I'd have done what some of my other friends did and joined the RAF then on leaving I'd have gone to university to get my degree. I almost joined the RAF but changed my mind at the last minute. I regret that as I think it'd have been a ton of fun.

But now I'm a photographer, following my initial passions. I used to make money from photography while doing my HND.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top