Education is the key to a secure future. Though previous generations of workers could make a good living without formal training in a specific field, today more than 85% of jobs require training beyond high school.
A look at the Occupational Outlook Quarterly, a publication of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, helps to make the point. We have shifted from a goods-producing economy to a service-providing economy. Manufacturing jobs continue to decline. The fastest growing jobs are in such fields as:
- education
- health care
- business and financial services
- transportation
- information technology.
Jobs in these fields offer higher wages, more fringe benefits, and greater job security. Students who want a better future tomorrow, should develop their skills and talents today by doing their best to improve grades.
What are the abilities that will lead to access to college and later career success? College admission requirements in conjunction with employers, look for people who can:
- analyze
- interpret
- apply what they learn
It’s important for students to build a solid foundation of basic intellectual abilities and then to develop them into higher order skills.
The most fundamental ability needed is good reading and comprehension skills. The internet provides instant access to information, but even the internet requires the ability to read and understand information in order to use it effectively.
Good communication skills, both speaking and writing, is the next ability students should develop. In particular, people in service-providing careers must be able to speak and write clearly in order to make themselves understood to clients and to the public.
Solid mathematical ability is essential for a wide and ever-growing number of careers. Math provides the basis for interpreting data, thinking logically, and drawing appropriate conclusions; in other words, interpreting what has been learned.
So, although education is far more sophisticated today than in the past, the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic are still the keys to long-term success. By developing their basic skills, students position themselves to perform well in more advanced subjects.
Parents cannot learn these subjects for their children, but they can provide a proper atmosphere for kids to learn themselves. Parents should promote high academic achievement by:
- making it an expectation
- praising children for good school work
- emphasizing that good grades do not come easily
Parents should help their children to understand that they should be prepared to invest appropriate time and effort in order to earn good grades and parents should encourage their students to do so. Parents can also support college attendance as a legitimate aspiration for their children to have.
William Collins is the executive director of the Center for Educational Outreach at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.