to be clear - the idea with the extended high school is that non-specialized employees, like governments, would stop asking for university degrees, because the skills that they require would be encapsulated in the enhanced high school diploma, whatever it's called. so, less people would actually want to go to university. the smaller pool of people would then actually mostly be able to get jobs in the fields they actually study in, which would be directed somewhat by research demand.

a field that this would probably have a large impact on would be computer science. but, programming ought to be thought of like writing - it's something employers ought to be able to assume that just about anybody can do. of course, there are specialized writers, and there will be specialized programmers. but, it's becoming a day-to-day thing that random people doing mundane tasks are going to need to know how to do, and so those skills should be adapted into a basic curriculum and many tasks should be delegated to people that graduate from it.

another thing that i think should be brought down to a basic level is an understanding of statistics. this is currently taught in ridiculous ways at the first through third year levels at universities, where you have statistics classes designed for every kind of student, although it's really just to break the classes up. the number of people taking statistics at a university is enormous, really, enough that it should be considered a common knowledge, too. i think a lot of students may also benefit from learning the statistics before they pick a specialization, both to better understand what they're learning and to be less distracted by stats. i mean, that's an extra psych or economics or physics or biology course you can take a semester, if you're not taking stats. a deeper immersion into what you're actually studying....

and, sure, some management courses would be helpful, too, maybe for people that in the end find themselves working in a fast food or retail type environment. it would level the playing field for promotions. and, it might give people that wouldn't have ordinarily seen themselves in a business role learn skills that they can use in the future. hey, if we're to have neo-liberalism, we ought to have some education in how it works. see, the neo-liberals start by getting human nature completely wrong - they assume infinite greed - and then design systems where infinite greed is available to all. they had interest rates at 0% for years. you were supposed to borrow money. yet, nobody did, because nobody understood they were supposed to. go around and ask people "did you take advantage of the 0% interest rates?", and they'll look at you like you're on drugs (and maybe you are and that's ok.). if you want us to act like homo economicus, you need to teach us how; it's not innate, it's not our nature. and, that doesn't mean a brainwashing course in neo-liberal "philosophy", either. even if you don't agree with this system, it's still useful to understand a little bit about how this works.

some breathing fossil is going to suggest we bring back civics class. i can hear it, right now:

"brrring back civics classss!"

well, maybe not civics class, exactly. but, a course in how parliament operates might be useful in a country where the government is a large employer. and, it might ensure that we understand how our system actually works, so long as it exists.

that's just a few ideas for a two-four year extension of high school. it would probably make sense for it to be a separate school system; to maintain high school graduation as a thing, then go on to this next school, then probably get a job.

i just feel it's necessary to draw attention to the fact that there are two problems with access to the school system - not only is it prohibitively expensive but the situation of degree necessity has led to lower standards across the board. it makes more sense to split these kids out of the university system, and let it focus on people that are going to actually end up doing research.

jagmeet singh must cut his beard.