Premier Doug Ford had choice words for students expressing concerns over recent cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) Tuesday, telling them to “not pick basket-weaving courses” and to invest in education that gives people in-demand jobs.
Speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park, Ford said he received “thousands of calls” from students over the long weekend, who expressed concerns about the province cutting the amount of grant money students can receive through OSAP.
“I mentioned to the students, you have to invest in your future, into in-demand jobs,” he said.
“You’re picking basket-weaving courses, and there’s not too many baskets being sold out there.”
I’d say hes right, a useless degree should be discouraged, you’re not helping these kids by playing make believe.
Smart financially literate people tell their kids to get vocational degrees.
There’s no such thing as a viable degree. It’s a myth. You’re asking teenagers to look into a magic crystal ball and figure out what skill set is going to have any value at all in 5 years. Meanwhile the richest men and all the experts on Earth can’t tell you what’s going to be valuable in 5 months. If they want to go to a vocational school, send them to a vocational school. The market will be flooded by the time they graduate so they aren’t going to make good money. Don’t expect to actually get an apprenticeship either, you don’t even want to know how few of those there are to go around.
You may as well tell those kids to take $1000 to Vegas and hope they win enough for a down payment on a house.