Nowadays, there is an increasing rate of preference for work-based skill acquisition over formal tertiary education amongst the younger population in some regions of the world. While this rising trend seems to have some benefits, a close look at the downsides is also necessary. In this essay, I would argue that the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages.
There are indeed benefits of work-based training. In recent times, youngsters have realised that work-based training is a good way to acquire both knowledge and experience at the same time. It requires choosing a trade, engaging experts and learning from them while working with them. At the end of the training, the trainee would have both knowledge of the skill and experience. Also, this skill acquisition method is economical as the trainee is paid some amount of money to compensate for his or her hours of work. An example of this concept is training to be a fashion designer with an expert fashion designer in his or her establishment instead of studying it in an institution.
While the aforementioned advantages stand, the disadvantages of this method of training still outweigh the benefits. Firstly, learning on the job is a good way to lose the theoretical basis of any speciality. Several persons who had work-based skill acquisition are good at their hard skills; however, most of the time, they do not understand the reasons behind their actions as they weren’t taught. In addition to this, some skill acquisition centres don’t provide adequate guidance for students and without proper guidance their skill set would be poor. This only leads to the production of several quacks. Finally, a poorly skilled expert is only a danger to society. For instance, a surgeon who doesn’t understand basic anatomy would cut through the wrong organ and cause the death of the individual on the table.
In conclusion, although there is a rising trend of work-based training in society there are some advantages to it. There is a need to pay attention to Its drawbacks and discourage it in society.