[heero_yuy]

You're 18 and leaving education, the world of work is at your feet.

Or is it? Not so, according to the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

A survey by the business group has found eight out of 10 British school-leavers "lack essential business skills" such as numeracy.

More than 80% of young people require "significant training" before being put to work, according to the 4,000 finance professionals questioned.

The figure is worse than last year, when 75% of school-leavers were said to need this level of help after being hired.

The top areas of weakness for new recruits are people skills and business skills, followed by technical skills.

Source

It's not just financial sectors that make this observation

Over three-quarters of employers believe that action is needed to improve maths and English skills, following concerns that poor skills in these areas can have a real impact on business, according to a new survey.

The review of business leaders found that many reported problems with young employees and potential recruits who had "difficulties constructing emails, use text speak rather than properly constructed sentences, and had poor spelling and communication skills".

The findings raise concerns that current qualifications taken by schoolchildren do not provide pupils with practical and relevant workplace skills.

Nearly half of employers said that they are most concerned with the English skills in young people, while 17 per cent cited maths as their main worry.

According to the report, only 11 per cent of respondents said they had no concern about either subject.

Source

So here's the dichotomy: Teachers, professional educators etc. who think they're doing a wonderful job and employers aghast at great swathes of school leavers who can barely read, write, add up or string a coherent sentence together after 12-14 years of education.