Individual,

as for APS, I think there should still be a heavy emphasis upon entrance exams rather than marks alone.

This would allow people to get in without going to university because they are simply smart and have specific skills.

some of the students who get great marks don't really know much about the real world, but do well because they specialize in one area.

i think a good humanities degree, assuming one vales it, should encompass a broad range of subjects, especially about political economy/economics.

Chris Lewis,
The whole show started wobbling when mere success in answering multiple choice questions was considered evidence of intelligence, above any Trade certification.
Many Tradesmen/women are in fact more intelligent, competent & responsible than the majority of "Intellectuals", particularly the pseudo-type !

Individual, I could hug you...So feckin correct, your ever patient, senile, bigoted old tart, Alison Jane. I started out at 12 making sausages in the summer holidays, and left academia as a career in 1992.. I still despair at the crap I see come before me with all the BSC/PHD/MBAS? affiliations and gongs...

I still remember him as the most intelligent and balanced man on the freezing wing of an aircraft we were riveting (inside a hanger, so bloody cold with no wind)... and I so wish there were more of him in my 40+ year career since then. Paper means nothing. its knowledge, experience and commonsense that matters... in my 'senile, bigoted old tart' days post 60!

individual,

that is true of some tradies. also smart labourers going around.

however, there are a lot of tradesmen that are dumb as dog ...

You smug elitist, do you wish you were born on the better side of the tracks and fed with a silver spoon... my word, and i have interviewed and had to work with Phd' who had more intelligence than a flea... just about!

Charles Essery, Thanks for your article. I have noticed that some of the comments posted seem to argue that you are a right wing nut job and hence cannot see the forrest for the trees. May I reassure you, you are not alone with your views and well reasoned post. The ABC is not Australia's ABC any more. It has transmogrified into a voracious entity devouring taxpayers money while pursuing a deadly left wing agenda that ignores its charter and responsibilities. At some point in the future the ABC will have to face justice; it cannot be too soon for me.