Thursday 11 March 2010

What's so wrong with McDonald’s?

We can expect an torrent of public outrage to greet the news that ten days spent working in a McDonald’s restaurant will soon count as one GCSE and could help boost a school’s rankings in the examination league tables.

McDonald’s has been accredited by Ofqual (the national exams watchdog) and the fast food chain is now able to serve up its own certificates to teenagers who successfully complete a ten-day work placement at McDonald’s. Each participant will earn a ‘BTEC Level 2 Certificate in Work Skills’ endorsed by the exam board Edexcel. It will be the equivalent of a B or C grade at GCSE.

Educationalists complain that the certificate in work skills will be awarded for young people who’ve merely spent their time flipping burgers, serving customers, handling cash and cleaning tables. They condemn the McGCSE for ‘devaluing the currency of the GCSE’.

Putting aside the argument that the government has already devalued GCSEs by lowering the pass rate year on year and dumbing down the curriculum, I know which qualification I’d value more. Working in a fast food outlet, dealing with Neanderthal diners, cleaning filthy tables and still remaining cheerful is one hell of a skill to acquire. One McGCSE must be worth five ordinary GCSEs in child minding, psychology, media and tourism studies… or whatever silly subjects today’s exams are taken in.

The UK is still a very snobbish country while pretending to be a beacon of equal opportunity. And perhaps none are more snobbish than the Guardian-reading liberals who sneer at McDonalds and supermarket workers while steering their own kids into the safe haven of teaching, social work and other public sector managerial positions. And we all know how wonderful and efficiently run public services are compared to the likes of McDonalds and Sainsburys… organisations that must give their customers what they want or else face bankruptcy.

I’d like to speak up for the people who do work in McDonald’s or Sainsburys workers. At least they know how to put in a hard day’s graft and the skills they pick up are invaluable to today’s employers. There’s no shame in working within the service sector.

Roll on the McGCSE… and let’s hope there will be many more employers willing to offer young people a proper taste of the world of work and a bite at the opportunity to be usefully employed.

17 comments:

  1. Oh Christ; I agree with TM. Is this what happens when you turn 30?

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Working in a fast food outlet, dealing with Neanderthal diners, cleaning filthy tables and still remaining cheerful is one hell of a skill to acquire."
    Especially if it's 14 hours a day and the pay is ridiculous.
    So that's the snag...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't think that's the issue, Stephan. Maybe a taste of what it's like to work hard for a living may help the kids to concentrate on their studies.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Personally I find dealing with the Neanderthal staff in some McDonald's hard to deal with. Very rarely do I see a "cheerful" staff member either.
    Surely many high school students already work at McDonalds anyway?

    ReplyDelete
  5. the Mac students will probably learn more in a week in mac donalds than 3 years at uni doing media studies for a start!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well said all. I believe this is all part of the McDonalds Academy which gives all sorts of GCSE-type qualifications.

    I just looked on their website and they have won a number of Awards including Investors in People (Gold), best place to work etc.

    Now if only they were to serve tastier fries...

    Cora

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nothing wrong with working in McDonalds, its a honest day's work. But working there for 10 days shouldn't qualify as one GCSE. I mean -- come on. Objectively that is just wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You'd be amazed what qualifies for a GCSE these days! My son has a first-aid GCSE plus an 'introduction to the workplace' GCSE. Luckily he can read, write and count plus he has a lot of common sense, having figured out that a lot life issues boil down to this and to using your brain.
    I have seen both my children spoon-fed information and work re-marked time and time again. This did not teach them an awful lot about qualify but helped bump up the school rankings.

    Cora

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have a 13 year old son and live in Queensland. All high-school students do a work experience placement as part of their studies in year 10. They can express a preference for a particular industry depending on their career goals (if they have any) and the school finds placements or them. It could be anything from restaurants to retail to building to childcare. Some can get placements in the army.

    As well as this, students can do vocational courses as part of their senior education. My son is going to complete an industry-recognised course in catering as he wants to be a chef. He will do this at the same time as completing senior level maths, english, history etc. So kids can leave high school with quals that allow them entrance to university and/or make them work ready in a range of industries and/or cut a couple o years of an apprenticeship. I think it's great.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Same here in the UK. My son was lucky enough to land a placement in a cinema and my daughter did a week's work at a nursery (children).

    It's great to be versatile and in my opinion knowledge or experience is never wasted.

    Cora

    ReplyDelete
  11. You've gone jolly quiet. Hope all is well. Don't stop blogging. x Glo

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Gloria

    I apologise for not blogging but I have been in some pain and am struggling a little bit to manage. I find it hard to concentrate because of the painkillers. I want to keep the blog going if only so I can tell everyone when I am better. I'm so grateful for the number of people who have bothered to keep reading and encouraging me to get better.

    I'll try to post tomorrow.

    XTM

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sorry to hear you're struggling.
    Best wishes for a continuing recovery,
    Gloria

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm sorry, but somebody has to ask the question;
    ...does the McGCSE come with fries?

    Michael, Germany

    ReplyDelete
  15. Possibly... may even be a thick shake with it too!

    ReplyDelete