Exams not the be all and lentil (From Stroud News and Journal)

Exams not the be all and lentil

WELL I am thrilled that once again everyone seemed to do so magnificently in their A'levels and GCSE's.

Is there no end to this excellence? What geniuses we seem to be breeding. Could it be something in the water?

When it comes to passing exams our youngsters are fast becoming unbeatable. Pity the world doesn't turn on exam certificates.

Back here on terra firma I have found, it helps to be able to cope with everyday life, string a sentence together and, stay with me on this one, know what a lentil is.

Working full-time means I shop at the weekends when supermarket staff seem to solely consist of our best and brightest sparks biding their time until moving on to the glittering world of university.

This however does not deter them at the checkout from asking me to identify a leek, confirm if an avocado is a fruit or a vegetable and turn puce if asked if there is any fresh dill in the store.

Just this week I found out just how few of these youngsters have their fingers on the pulse.

I asked two teenagers working in a large supermarket to direct me to the lentils. The first said he couldn't and carried on stacking shelves and the second looked at me blankly before admitting he hadn't a clue what lentils were.

Now I know this is not life and death and I guess he could get though life without knowing what a lentil is.

But if you work for a company isn't it a good idea to know what you are selling? And if you don't know something, why not ask a colleague who does so that you can be of help to the customer? In the old days it used to be called using your initiative but I don't think there is currently an exam in that.

A well-known entrepreneur who started a vacuum cleaning business not a million miles from here requires every member of staff from the janitor to the board of directors to take apart an appliance and rebuild it - just so they know what they are dealing with. It's not rocket science.