Why the university system is failing our graduates

Posted to Facebook on 30/4/2020 2:05 PM
Commenting on “Why the university system is failing our graduates”
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/work/2019/10/22/australian-university-graduate-jobs/

This news article was from 22 October 2019. If there was a problem for graduates to find jobs after graduation, what are the chances now after the coronavirus pandemic?

I had a chat with a FB friend yesterday over Messenger, and I discussed about why graduates should try to land themselves with a job relevant to what they had studied, before considering going for higher degree.

For years, I encouraged many students to take up an Advanced Diploma courses from TAFE, find a job and then find pathway to complete a degree later. It takes less time to complete an Advanced Diploma course than a degree, cost less, but has the advantage of having the core materials covered, relevant to fulfil the employment requirement.

Some TAFE and VET courses are more hands-on and practical, thus makes a TAFE graduates more employable.

As for future promotion, it is up to the individual to pursue further study.

Employers are looking for more than a degree or Advanced Diploma, and I shall discuss this more in later blogs.

Thank you for reading.

Why the university system is failing our graduates

Worried parents ask principals to take their kids

Posted to Facebook on 16/4/2020 10:29 PM
Posted to The Age (16/4/2020) on 16/4/2020
Commenting on “Worried parents ask principals to take their kids”
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/we-can-t-do-this-worried-parents-ask-principals-to-take-their-kids-20200416-p54kk1.html

If parents can’t help their children in home schooling and home work, does it mean that many parents have low level of literacy and numeracy? It’s time some of these parents should re-enrol in a primary school.

Far too often, parents point fingers at teachers for not doing their job educating the children. It is time that the society must realise schools are the best and cheapest childcare centres around.

Respect the teachers, support the teachers.

Thank you for reading.

Worried parents ask principals to take their kids

No more Zoom for home-based learning after hackers show obscene photos to Singapore students

Posted to Facebook on 10/4/2020 11:16 PM
Commenting on “No more Zoom for home-based learning after hackers show obscene photos to Singapore students”
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/hackers-hijack-home-based-lessons-on-zoom-to-allegedly-show-obscene-photos-to-children

Zoom video conferencing users beware.

Lack of security enables hackers to join the chat room. Read the attached news article from Singapore, banning use of Zoom school online home-based lessons. Zoom attracts Zoom bombing, like what the school children have experienced.

Zoom's security flaws have led to a number of organizations, companies, and schools banning or restricting its use.

Government and government agencies banning such use include NASA, Taiwan, Australian Defence Force, German Foreign Ministry, US Senate.

Google also ban its employees using Zoom on company-owned desktop and laptop computers, and administrators will disable it this week.

Many people with no knowledge or do not care about cyber security jump into the band wagon because it is the in-thing during this coronavirus pandemic, will be get more than they bargained for, and likely have their video conferencing posted to other media without their consent.

Stay Home, Stay Safe, Stay Away from Zoom.

Thank you for reading.

No more Zoom for home-based learning after hackers show obscene photos to Singapore students

Every graduate should have a good understanding of Marketing

Posted to Facebook on 4/2/2020 8:46 PM
Every graduate should have a good understanding of Marketing

Written on 4 February 2020

Every graduate should have a good understanding of Marketing, including the technique of selling products and services.

The graduate is the product and what they can offer are the services.

In one of my early careers, I was a professional cake decorator cum marketer. No matter how beautiful my creation and masterpiece was, it just looked beautiful and that was all. It did not feed my ”empty stomach”, so to say. That beautiful cake had to be sold to exchange for money, and for that I had to convince the market, the arena where exchanges took place, that the beautiful cake had its worth and value.

Graduates need to be able to market themselves as a total package, the person and what that person possesses in the grey matter.

Thank you for reading.

My Story - Volunteering at a primary school

Posted to Facebook on 31/3/2020 3:44 AM
My Story - Volunteering at a primary school"

I am very fortunate that the school I volunteer in trusted me to assist teachers in three different Years in a single day.

In a normal class, a teacher can only use one method (teaching style) to teach the students. However, when the class teacher assigned me to help small groups each are generally of the same competence level, I can use different techniques to help them understand better.

In my opinion the problem is not about the class size, but the student mix. It does not matter how a young teacher is mentored, they will still be frustrated because the one-size-fits-all method will not achieve an optimal outcome. It is sad that the system got rid of streaming, and therefore the end result is that the overall performance is just average. That my be what Australian culture is about - chopping down the tall poppies!

How can a young teacher deal with a student rolling on the floor crying, or the student keeps saying she is a failure? How can a young teacher cope with naughty or mischievous students who cannot be punished or reprimanded? How can a young teacher just use generic words to describe exact nature of the students' behaviour or the actual performance of the students in the "report card"?

It is not just the young teachers having problems. In fact many experienced teachers are as stressed and frustrated when they write the individual reports.

Thank you for reading.

'Worst since 1932': Two million Aussies face unemployment queue

Posted to Facebook on 24/3/2020 at 9:53 PM
'Worst since 1932': Two million Aussies face unemployment queue
'Worst since 1932': Two million Aussies face unemployment queue

I am very vocal and I really don’t like a lot of the interviewers and interviewing techniques used by the employment agency consultants, HR representatives and potential employers.

The terminologies used are no more than jargons, and normally fairly new in the vocabulary. Unless the job seekers have just finished a management course in tertiary education, there is a Buckley’s chance that they can understand what they interviewers are talking about.

One typical example is about being a team player. Without having worked in that specific company or organisation, how does one know about it’s team dynamics, and therefore whether one can fit in. Then there are words like hard skills and soft skills.

Some of the advertisements are just plain ridiculous and expect too much. Unfortunately, these are written just as a formality, because the position is meant for someone awaits to be promoted internally but due to organisation policies that the position has to be advertised externally.

Cities go into lockdown, and many businesses especially fashion, hospitality, entertainment, motor vehicle and tourism and all related industries will close for good. No one has ever imagined such a disaster can ever happen leading to depression.

No one knows when this pandemic will end, and how much longer can any government pour money in to support the businesses, workers who have been stood down and casual workers who could not find work to subsidise their income. Many businesses may not survive and even if there is a restart button, some businesses will take much longer to rebuild.

Those unemployed former employment consultants, HR experts and business owners will be queuing up to compete with a lot of others. These people will understand some of prejudices they had before, and how difficult is to be across am interviewing panel bombarded with questions only the quick minded can handle.

The negative impact of this disastrous pandemic on private schools is more visible than the public sector. I did challenge the usefulness of the lush green carpet grass school field, swimming pool, gymnasium, posh canteen, etc. These do not come into the equation of education system proper.

For those loyal followers of my real estate blogs, you probably have heard enough about my asking you to save, save and save for rainy days, and never jump in to invest on negatively geared properties. I think my advice is spot on. My prediction about the negative impact on the real estate industry has come true. Auctions and property inspection are halted during the current state of emergency and the imposition of self-distancing rule on public gathering.

After all that being said, do not get disappointed, disillusion and get yourself into a state of depression. You have a lot of spare time, and use this time wisely to self-improve yourself, not only in terms of knowledge, but also outlook in life. This is also the time to reconsider your next career path.

In one of my blogs, I explained economy will stay stagnant if money does not flow by changing hand. Until consumer confidence returns, that is when people perceive to have financial stability again, money will be saved rather than spent.

The economic recovery takes time, and you must remain strong, physically and mentally.

Thank you for reading.

'Worst since 1932': Two million Aussies face unemployment queue

How a Springvale school overcame disadvantage and blitzed NAPLAN

Posted to Facebook on 21/4/2020 at 10:16 AM
Commenting on "How a Springvale school overcame disadvantage and blitzed NAPLAN"
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/how-a-springvale-school-overcame-disadvantage-and-blitzed-naplan-20200320-p54ca5.html

It is nothing to do with the best school canteen, green carpet grass school field, swimming pool or the best equipped science laboratory, but the effort put in for quality teaching.

Many schools market through glossy advertisement and promotional material as well as on multi-media. Some also spend big for a few seconds air time on television.

There are quiet achievers that target at the students’ shortcomings and find ways to improve on the them, rather than on the parents’ hip pockets.

So, when you enrol your child in the forthcoming year, find out more about the history of the school, and compare how much you have subsidise those posh facilities that your child will never use.

Thank you for reading.

How a Springvale school overcame disadvantage and blitzed NAPLAN