A downgrade for Qantas, a lesson for Australia's economy

Posted to The Age (14/1/2014) on 14/1/2014 at 1:29 PM
Commenting on "A downgrade for Qantas, a lesson for Australia's economy"
http://www.smh.com.au/business/a-downgrade-for-qantas-a-lesson-for-australias-economy-20140112-30opq.html

Money is money and smells the same whether it is private equity or normal shareholders, because money is dead. However, management is alive, or may be some in the management are living zombies.

Time and again, people at top management have been overpaid. They achieve a better bottom line the wrong way. They lack vision and foresight, and live in a cocoon. They wears blinkers and congratulate themselves, not because of their strengths that win the day, but their competitors' weaknesses that lead to the competitors' demise.

I believe the Qantas management, from the top to the lower ends are very blind and deaf. They do not look at and listen to the public's voices how other top airline's are providing services. Air stewards and hostesses work in a service industry, and yet basic manners and body language are just lacking.

It does not cost much to improve quality of food, because another two or three extra passengers on the plane will cover the additional cost for each meal. It is not unlike patients in hospital, passengers don't move about and have nothing much to do in a plane. Food is something that they will talk about to their friends, unless there is something more disastrous happens on the plane.

Election the unknown for next year's market (Post 1 of 2)

Posted to The Age (13/12/12) on 16/12/2012 at 1:27 PM
Commenting on "Election the unknown for next year's market"
http://theage.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/election-the-unknown-for-next-years-market-20121212-2b9vu.html

Whichever party wins the election is not the determining factor for the boom-and-bust of the real estate industry. The concern of today is unemployment. The reported unemployment rate is totally unrealistic, and unreliable. To understand the extent of economic misery, all you need is to count the number of For Rent or For Lease signs in busy shopping strips, CBD commercial buildings, and the number of people carrying bags of purchased items in shopping centres.

Gone are the good old days of economic recovery. The wheel of economy stops when people stop borrowing and stop spending. Unfortunately, it is the uncontrolled spending leads to over commitment of debt here and overseas. The fear of inability to recover the debt by the lenders put the brake hard and the wheels come to a halt.

Accelerated spending helped China, India and many developing countries to create employment, which cannibalised ours and many developed countries'. The thought of employment recovery is farfetched, because there is no way but probably with one possible avenue that our labour costs can be lowered substantially to compete in the international arena.

That possible avenue relies on new migrants coming to Australia with different mindset and attitude towards work. The costs of construction, direct and indirect, may come down, not dissimilar to the scenario of Asian restaurants and cafes serving mouth-watering and appetite satisfying meals.

When will this prophecy be realised? I think the process has already begun!

Wanted: a visionary to plug the leadership

Posted to The Age(14/4/2012) on 14/4/2012 at 2:15 PM (Not published by Newspaper)
Commenting on "Wanted: a visionary to plug the leadership"
http://www.theage.com.au/national/wanted-a-visionary-to-plug-the-leadership-hole-20120413-1wz3p.html

I called 4 real estate agents to appraise a house, and only young representative impressed me very much. The house was a rental property, dated with telltale sign of mission brown door frame and skirting. However, he did not see all these as the downside. He was very enthusiastic, saw the potential, talked about the positives and explained how he would market the house.

Whether he could sell the house eventually is secondary, but he excited me by giving me hope that the house could be sold at the current depressive market. He never put any other real estate agents down; in fact throughout the whole appraisal process he concentrated his energy in the house only.

Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are worse than lack lustre and lack vision; they lack the enthusiasm and salesmanship to put ideas across. They lack the important rapport called honesty and trust. Their views are superficial and mainly party line driven.

Julia Gillard is like a little spoilt brat; she wants her way to get the carbon tax bill passed, miscalculates the Malaysian solution and refuses to impose GST on online imports less than AUD1000; despite the public outcry, the risk of wiping out most of the small businesses which employed bulk of the working population and torment the already heavily debt-ridden farmers who are the guardians of the Australian food bowls.

Tony Abbott has to work on his body language. However, body language is a reflection of what he is within. It would be better if Tony Abbott could come up with something more positive in revitalising the manufacturing industries or any industry for that matter.

On many occasions, political parties use negative campaign to scare voters on their choice, but time and again the tactic failed. Polls after polls people of Australia have spoken that they want a strong a leader, a leader that leads and not to kowtow to foreign powers; a leader to give us hope, create job opportunity for present and younger generation and drive Australia economy further.

China was a third world country perceived to have nothing to live for during early Mao’s time. Australia was a lucky country according to Donald Horne then. Now China has the largest airport, fastest train, tallest building, rocket, space station, factories that building hi-tech computers and electronic, factory of the world, etc. What do we have in Australia – primary producing industries that cannot absorb all the so called smart Australians having university degrees? Can Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott do anything to move Australia forward?

Wanted: a visionary to plug the leadership

Posted to The Age(14/4/2012) on 14/4/2012 at 2:15 PM (Not published by Newspaper)
Commenting on "Wanted: a visionary to plug the leadership"
http://www.theage.com.au/national/wanted-a-visionary-to-plug-the-leadership-hole-20120413-1wz3p.html

I called 4 real estate agents to appraise a house, and only young representative impressed me very much. The house was a rental property, dated with telltale sign of mission brown door frame and skirting. However, he did not see all these as the downside. He was very enthusiastic, saw the potential, talked about the positives and explained how he would market the house.

Whether he could sell the house eventually is secondary, but he excited me by giving me hope that the house could be sold at the current depressive market. He never put any other real estate agents down; in fact throughout the whole appraisal process he concentrated his energy in the house only.

Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are worse than lack lustre and lack vision; they lack the enthusiasm and salesmanship to put ideas across. They lack the important rapport called honesty and trust. Their views are superficial and mainly party line driven.

Julia Gillard is like a little spoilt brat; she wants her way to get the carbon tax bill passed, miscalculates the Malaysian solution and refuses to impose GST on online imports less than AUD1000; despite the public outcry, the risk of wiping out most of the small businesses which employed bulk of the working population and torment the already heavily debt-ridden farmers who are the guardians of the Australian food bowls.

Tony Abbott has to work on his body language. However, body language is a reflection of what he is within. It would be better if Tony Abbott could come up with something more positive in revitalising the manufacturing industries or any industry for that matter.

On many occasions, political parties use negative campaign to scare voters on their choice, but time and again the tactic failed. Polls after polls people of Australia have spoken that they want a strong a leader, a leader that leads and not to kowtow to foreign powers; a leader to give us hope, create job opportunity for present and younger generation and drive Australia economy further.

China was a third world country perceived to have nothing to live for during early Mao’s time. Australia was a lucky country according to Donald Horne then. Now China has the largest airport, fastest train, tallest building, rocket, space station, factories that building hi-tech computers and electronic, factory of the world, etc. What do we have in Australia – primary producing industries that cannot absorb all the so called smart Australians having university degrees? Can Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott do anything to move Australia forward?

The case for RBA tipsters being wrong – again (Part 2 of 2 Posts)

Posted to The Age (5/3/2012) on 5/3/2012 at 1:02 PM
Commenting on "The case for RBA tipsters being wrong – again"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-case-for-rba-tipsters-being-wrong--again-20120305-1uc2k.html

The rate will remain unchanged due to societal pressure rather than economic rationalism.

The unemployment rate will not change because of the inaccurate model used for calculation, and the seasonally adjusted data are just as rubbery due to "goods-dumping" from China.

Shares gain ahead of break

Posted to The Age (23/12/2011) on 23/12/2011 at 3:08 PM
Commenting on "Markets Live: Shares gain ahead of break"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/markets-live-shares-gain-ahead-of-break-20111223-1p7pn.html

Who are pushing up the share prices? If the market is so healthy, why do we see the line shoots up sharply, and then comes up again, after which the line fluctuates erratically?

Unless you are a day trader wanting to make a killing in just few hours, the medium to long term outlook cannot justify rising markets around the world.

How can the US unemployment rate dropped and confidence returned for no logical reasons? The payroll tax cut and the removal of long term unemployment benefit that expire at the end of the year, plus the soldiers returning from the withdrawal are likely to reverse the unemployment rate in months to come. The possible visible light at the end of the tunnel is the rise in arm sales of the refurbished military weapons to Iraq and surrounding countries; a move that will really upset the Russians.

It is plausible that the initial drop in healthcare spending was a sacrifice in order to pay for other daily essential expenses and save up for rainy days, viz. loss of employment. The subsequent rise was likely due to deterioration of medical condition for those who have suspended their visit to medical practitioners and on medication. The Christmas stress can only worsen the situation.

To everyone, have a joyous and safe Christmas and happy new year.

Markets Live: Shares retreat on Europe woes

Posted to The Age (22/12/2011) on 22/12/2011 at 10:46 AM
Commenting on "Markets Live: Shares retreat on Europe woes"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/markets-live-shares-retreat-on-europe-woes-20111222-1p66q.html

Playing in the share market is like playing with the poker machine. Players are not even playing on hope or expectation; they are more like zombies hopping in all directions. It is pure nonsense to believe a set of good data is going to change the world and making it a better place, or another bad set is to end all the miseries of mankind.

Wake up players, there are too many scrupulous people having you on; they manipulate the market to their advantage.

Aussie stocks trim gains

Posted to The Age (11/11/2011) on 11/11/2011 at 1:25 PM
Commenting on "Markets Live: Aussie stocks trim gains"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets-live-aussie-stocks-trim-gains-20111111-1na5v.html

If Rome was not built in one day, how could Italy? Besides, it will cost a lot more in money and time to rebuild what has been "destroyed" by its ageing population, bureaucracy, corruption and tax-avoiding black market. With that in mind, how can anyone believe that this bad wind will blow away in just a matter of a day or so, and have so much confidence in pushing up share prices in such turbulent market?

Anything happens in Europe can affect economy worldwide. It is evident from other reports that China export has slowed. It is myopic to think that internal consumption will keep China economy going just like before. If it does, it is only temporary, because China needs a lot of money to look after a huge population.

Australia must also be cautious about continuous outflow of monies to overseas through online shopping and outbound tourism. Once consumers parted their monies, there will be less for internal circulation required for job creation and tax revenue.

Debt makes the world goes round, but debt is virtual money and must be repaid at some point in time. Prosperity created by debt is temporary, unless it can be repaid sooner by real money and not by another form of debt.

Australian consumers starting to spend again

Posted to Adelaide Now (5/10/2011) on 5/10/2011 at 9:51 PM
Commenting on “Australian consumers starting to spend again”
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/australian-consumers-starting-to-spend-again/story-e6frede3-1226159410714

With closer examination, ABS figures show that many household items including carpets, furniture, goods for renovation etc increased the most while departmental stores suffered. This can be explained easily - many houses had to refinish and repair after severe storms and floods during the same period.

The departmental store spending decline is due to online purchases, much of the money went overseas. For argument sake, even if only 25% of the $22b spent on online were overseas purchases and if the government had collected GST, it would have a windfall instead of a shortfall of $550m.

While many items are subject to currency fluctuations, it is not the case for cafe/restaurant prices. Commonsense tells us that no matter what happens to foreign exchange, cafe/dine-out meal prices can only go up but never down. If the patronage remains unchanged, the total spending will still increase, theoretically by the same percentage as the price.

I have written often about the state of Australian economy, and tempest is yet to come. I believe the China's forward orders for our iron ore and coal will be less, coupled with lower price offered, the next quarter export income will NOT be rosy

Get tough on China: unions

Posted to The Age (3/10/2011) on 3/10/2011 at 11:42 AM
Commenting on “Get tough on China: unions”
http://www.theage.com.au/national/get-tough-on-china-unions-20111002-1l3zp.html

@Alexander, why no one stops China stealing copyright for so long? In fact, the stupid "smart" countries hand over their decades of designs and blueprints to China via "technology transfer", utilising Chinese factories to produce their goods - idiotic by true. Why? China offers the world cheap labour! Is it China’s fault? No, comfortable life-style comes with a price!

Australia was classified as a developed country, while China was still "under-developed". Australia was so much richer, and China miserably poor. Australia was technologically advanced, and China relied on recycled, rusty metal scraps during early Mao's time. Now China is producing the latest generation computers, telecommunication electronics, electric cars, satellites, rockets, fastest train, etc. It can complete projects in short period well beyond other country’s dream.

Deregulate labour market without sacrificing OHS, revamp unemployment welfare system, and in the meantime curb obscene salaries and remunerations of top executives will likely to propel us in competing more vigorously in the world market, and cope with any future GFC.

Who wrecked this country? Ask the unions, and the big-mouth, loud-mouth leaders who know nothing about innovation or how to adapt to changes. Australia still lives in the past, and like dinosaurs, it will perish. I bet all these people will blame the negligible carbon emission as the cause of Australian economic extinction.

Price war drives up supermarket sales

Posted to Adelaide Now (18/7/2011) on 18/7/2011 at 1:51 PM
Commenting on "Price war drives up supermarket sales"
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/price-war-drives-up-supermarket-sales/story-e6frea6u-1226096438411

For the last few years, I have been travelling to Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Egypt, USA, Canada, UK, Russia and several European countries. In the end, I still call Melbourne, Australia home. Eating out is cheaper in many places, but life is more than just food. GST or similar taxes in many of these countries are much higher, and wages are lower.

Farmers and suppliers to large supermarkets must unite to negotiate a better deal. Their long term survival is also an interest to the supermarkets. Gone are the days when farmers just grow produce, they must learn to grow their bottom line now!

Supermarkets make more money from shoppers spending their savings on other more expensive items. No wonder these shoppers always cry poor, and accept and embrace a PM who can't manage taxpayer's money readily! Think about using the savings to reduce mortgage stress or spend on other essential items!

As for Michael Schneider, what sort of accommodation is he getting for that price in SE Asia? Once he steps out of his living compound, very likely he sees congested, noisy and dirty streets. Soon he probably seeks shelter in the Australian embassy due to political uprising.

Economy takes a hit but it's far from a disaster

Posted to The Age (2/6/2011) on 2/6/2011 at 11:32 AM
Commenting on "Economy takes a hit but it's far from a disaster"
http://www.theage.com.au/national/economy-takes-a-hit-but-its-far-from-a-disaster-20110601-1fgpg.html

Correct me if I am wrong:

GDP = private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports - imports)

One of the parameters is private consumption which includes utilities. By discounting the great jump in utility prices through no increase in actual "quantity consumption", how can any economist justifiably comment that there was a GDP increase if of all the natural disasters factors are removed.

One must be very careful in examining all the underpinning components, and not to treat everything as a basket case. For a long time I argue that many economic models are incorrect, in the sense that dollar values are used instead of unit prices. Unit price takes care of and normalises quantity consumption.

Growth in consumption is paramount! Great real!

Coal exports hit hard by floods, likely to force RBA to hold rates

Posted to Adelaide Now (1/6/2011) on 1/6/2011 at 12:46 PM
Commenting on "Coal exports hit hard by floods, likely to force RBA to hold rates"
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/coal-exports-take-whack-after-floods/story-e6frede3-1226066990243

Australia is definitely heading towards a recession.

The truth lies in the trilogy of negative demand - real properties, cars and household items. In recent months, the supply of properties in the market has increased, but there are many people who cannot afford to buy. They have neither the earning capacity to convince the bank to lend them money, nor the ability to repay after the initial down payment. Renovation market has also slowed down. Car is the largest personal asset item.

Car sales have also slumped, and compounding the problem is the increasing petrol prices which turn away potential buyers from buying bigger cars or 4-wheel drives.

David Jones, Myers and JB HiFi are reporting slow sales for the past few months. This is the third and critical negative demand that puts the nail in the economy coffin. Glenn Stevens and his RBA team are just not good enough to come up with inaccurate forecasts month after month. Sitting in the boardroom, looking at graphs on computer and talking with big businesses and then come up with the economic rationale to increase interest rate is unacceptable.

Not all Australians are miners, and not all 95% employed are full-time workers!

Miranda Kerr set to return to Australia for David Jones in retail war

Posted to Herald Sun (15/5/2011) on 15/5/2011 at 2:08 PM (Not published)
Commenting on “Miranda Kerr set to return to Australia for David Jones in retail war”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/miranda-back-to-fight-for-djs/story-e6frf96o-1226056171317

David Jones has recalled its biggest asset Miranda Kerr. If the consumers are not careful with their spending, the banks will be recalling the loan by auctioning the mortgagors’ biggest assets - their houses!

Federal Budget 2011 - Swan's blueprint for surplus

Posted to Adelaide Now (11/5/2011) on 11/5/2011 at 1:07 AM
Commenting on “Federal Budget 2011 - Swan's blueprint for surplus”
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/in-depth/swans-blueprint-for-surplus/story-fn8o0uyv-1226053507909

Does it mean that people like me mature-age person need to be retrained to work in mining towns in Western Australia or Queensland, go under the house to fix plumbing or up the roof top to install solar panels? I am well-trained, with post-graduate degree and other qualifications, more than qualified to train the untrained, and yet I find myself unemployed.

I had been a sessional TAFE and VET trainer for 15 years, until the international education bubble burst when the government changed policy. More than half of the international students choose not to come to Australia anymore, and therefore, many trainers like me are unemployed.

Life as a sessional teacher is very tough. We are hard working people, and no dole-bludgers. Each term, we queue up, not at Centrelink, but at the course coordinator office asking whether there is any work for us.

Budget 2011 Let's turn mining boom into job boom

Posted to Herald Sun (11/5/2011) on 11/5/2011 at 12:47 AM
Commenting on “Budget 2011: Let's turn mining boom into job boom, says Wayne Swan”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/federal-budget-2011/story-fn8melax-1226053631468

Does it mean that people like me mature-age person need to be retrained to work in mining towns in Western Australia or Queensland, go under the house to fix plumbing or up the roof top to install solar panels? I am well-trained, with post-graduate degree and other qualifications, more than qualified to train the untrained, and yet I find myself unemployed.

I had been a sessional TAFE and VET trainer for 15 years, until the international education bubble burst when the government changed policy. More than half of the international students choose not to come to Australia anymore, and therefore, many trainers like me are unemployed.

Life as a sessional teacher is very tough. We are hard working people, and no dole-bludgers. Each term, we queue up, not at Centrelink, but at the course coordinator office asking whether there is any work for us. I cannot speak on behalf of other trainers; yes, I do indirectly and crudely beg for work and therefore, money.

End 1 of 2


Posted to Herald Sun (11/5/2011) on 11/5/2011 at 1:02 AM

Creating 500000 jobs is pine in the sky; along the way probably more jobs are lost. Realistically the net number is probably negative or negligibly small. Do the politicians understand what training really entails? If this is Asia, where people have the right attitude to learn and want to be trained to excel rather than just be competent, training will be a breeze. Unfortunately, I find that the real success rate of people being trained and achieved proper outcome is far from satisfactory. After so many years in the training / education industry, I can only conclude that we are producing half-bake Rolls Royces instead of top quality T-Fords - it is still a long way to have "mass-produced" skilled workforce.

The mythical unemployment rate of around 5% is just pure nonsense. A person receiving payment for one hour during the survey period is considered as employed. In short, the real hidden unemployment rate should be at least 15% or more.

Many mature-age workers who have lost their jobs turn to running small businesses. Not that they are good at doing so, but they are not untitled to go on the dole queue, like the boat-people or welfare bludgers.

End of 2 of 2

Why June is too soon for an RBA rate rise

Posted to The Age (9/5/2011) on 9/5/2011 at 4:37 PM
Commenting on “Why June is too soon for an RBA rate rise”
http://www.theage.com.au/business/why-june-is-too-soon-for-an-rba-rate-rise-20110509-1eez3.html?

Predictions by Glenn Stevens and his team at RBA are far from satisfactory. Either the economic models used or the way the results produced by the models have been interpreted need to undergo vigorous challenge.

The trilogy of negative demand, as I called it, is a signal for heading towards a recession. This may sound farfetched, naïve and ill-founded, but a rationalist will see the wisdom of this doomsday prediction. The trilogy of negative demands is real properties, cars and household goods including fashions. These three categories of items are in descending sequence in terms of average value. In recent months, we witness the trilogy of negative demands take place.

I have written in many blogs and newspaper comments about my predictions, a lot more accurate than what RBA has been predicting. Using dollar value as the key element in prediction is inadequate. The total quantity demand must be taken into consideration for normalisation.

CPI increase, unfortunately, always targets at increase in price which can be due to real reason and artificial manipulation. If quantity demand is increased, causing shortage of supply and thus pushing up the price, then there is room to call for increase in interest rate to dampen the demand. However, it is irrational to increase interest rate because electricity charges, water rates, local petrol prices have gone up, and that the quantity demand of these utilities or items is in fact unchanged or decreased. In short, the total dollar increases bear no relation to the demand curves.

China's economy about to overtake US

Posted to Monash Weekly (25/4/2011) on 26/4/2011 at 1:35 PM (not published)
Resubmited Part 2 of 3 on 10/5/2011 at 9:23 PM
Commenting on “China's economy about to overtake US”
http://www.monashweekly.com.au/news/world/world/general/chinas-economy-about-to-overtake-us/2143313.aspx

Good on China. This is a great example for many countries to follow! Unfortunately, far too many countries adopt the NATO’s motto - Talk Only No Action!

With a population of 1.3 billion people to support and yet can win the economic race is definitely a modern day fairy tale. Australia has only 23 million people, but keeps whinging about the size of the population – this is just laughable!

While Australia still needs to resolve the NBN rollout, China has already built the highest rail track in the world linking Beijing to Tibet, the fastest bullet train, a modern international airport bigger than London’s Heathrow Airport, thousands of wind turbines, booming automotive industry building electric cars, rockets to send satellites and astronauts to outer space, and the most awesome one is that China is the factory of the world now!

End Part 1 of 3

Is there anything China cannot excel in? China is progressing at lightning speed – thanks to technology transfer, it is rather unstoppable. What is more concerning is that China will soon be the office of the world. With the unprecedented speed of technological advancement, a modern office is no longer an enclosed space with fixed locality - staff can be situated in other parts of the world, and documents filed and backed up in computer servers remote from the source.

Can you imagine the benefit of outsourcing office services to overseas companies? Just compare that with buying goods online from other countries – there is no GST if the value is under $1,000. Outsourcing office work saves on payroll tax, compulsory superannuation guaranteed contribution, office expenses, union interference, etc. What is going to happen to employment?

End Part 2 of 3

2009-2010 $19.1 billion international education industry has become the thing of the past. Australian government move to change the visa and permanent residency policies have led to a drastic decline in international students coming to study in Australia, causing a financial blackhole in our economy. This subject has not been raised openly and treated urgently by both political parties.

With economy of scale and determination, China can train more people in China per week than probably all the Australian learners / trainees trained in one year. It is just a matter of a decade or so, professional trainers in China will lose their accent, and international students from all over the world will be pursuing their qualifications in China. After being an educator / trainer in the industry for about 15 years, I can only say that future learners will probably get higher quality training in China than Australia, and at fraction of the cost.

After all that being said and written, are there no negatives about China especially the way she deals with human rights and social justice? I can only say it is a matter of opinion, and this is not relevant to the subject in discussion.

End Part 3 of 3

Carbon tax winning voters but conditions attached

Posted to Herald Sun (6/4/2011) on 6/4/2011 at 3:15 AM

Commenting on “Carbon tax winning voters but conditions attached”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/carbon-tax-winning-voters-but-conditions-attached/comments-fn7x8me2-1226034308351

"Women, families and higher-income earners were the strongest supporters"? What an insult to the intelligence of these people (I hope I'm defending correctly)!

Julia Gillard, tell us honestly (if you understand the meaning of honesty) what are the ratios of distribution / usage of the carbon tax collected from the large carbon emitters?

Labor has never been a good money manager, and it is frightening to imagine much of the money will be wasted in building an ivory tower managed by a large pool of fat cats, leaving nothing much to invest in clean energy - and even so probably in Labor's marginal seats!

Wake up all Australians, last month our country experienced a trade deficit of 0.2 billion dollars. The trend will worsen from now on. Unless the Labor Government do something more constructive in revitalising our manufacturing industries and creating jobs, rather than just deceiving and distracting the people on an issue similar to the Y2K hoax, Australia will definitely become a banana republic!

For the good of Australia, show no mercy to this smiling lying Prime Minister. Show no pity to vote for her just because she is a female! Do vote smart, not for a tart!

Literacy and numeracy education system flawed - Part 2

Posted to Adelaide Now (5/4/2011) on 5/4/2011 at 10:53 PM
Commenting on “Literacy and numeracy education system flawed”
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/literacy-and-numeracy-education-system-flawed/story-e6frea6u-1226033651976

The previous comment I posted is based on my many years of experience as a trainer (a word I dislike to use) in competency-based-training (CBT) in private colleges and TAFEs. There is a push to introduce CBT in primary and secondary schools. This will worsen the LLN problem.

LLN is fundamental and basic requirement upon which other knowledge and skills can be built on. CBT is good for task-based training, but makes the learners very much one-track mind. As an example of CBT, a sportsperson may excel in a particular sport he/she is trained and coached in, but nothing else.

CBT is also a cause for many mature-age workers being unemployed. While they may have years of solid background and know-how for a particular field of work, an employer or the employment agency prefers to seek out candidates, probably with little or no prior working experience but have specific skills, to fill the position for that particular instance. Resume can be fabricated so that a candidate has an advantage over other applicants, but when problem arise, all hell breaks loose.

LLN skills are not an option. They must be compulsory to job seekers, because of our stringent industrial and employment laws.