{"id":161205,"date":"2016-05-03T10:13:35","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T14:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=161205"},"modified":"2016-05-03T10:13:35","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T14:13:35","slug":"commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_161206\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-161206\" style=\"width: 637px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-161206\" src=\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration from author's  book \u201cCaribbean Sketches\u201d and shows young Kester at the time he was being taught wood carving by Master Craftsman, Louis Desir\u00e9.\" width=\"637\" height=\"516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work.jpg 637w, https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work-300x243.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 637px) 100vw, 637px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-161206\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Illustration from author&#8217;s book \u201cCaribbean Sketches\u201d and shows young Kester at the time he was being taught wood carving by Master Craftsman, Louis Desir\u00e9.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While the Principal of the University of the West Indies Open Campus laments low registration in tertiary institutions of learning and the government\u2019s objective is a degree student in every home, I am making a plea for the practical.<\/p>\n<p>Let me begin by saying that I am not decrying learning. What I am questioning is the current obsession with academic qualifications. A degree is not the only qualification, nor is it necessarily the most useful one in the real world. At this point in time Dominica desperately needs a fully skilled workforce.<br \/>\nYou will note that I state \u201cfully skilled\u201d rather than \u201csemi-skilled\u201d. All too often the latter passes for the former.<\/p>\n<p>While it is accepted that a Master\u2019s Degree entails no less than a five year course of study, there is the perception that a skill can be learnt in six weeks or six months. In fact, learning a skill takes longer than studying for a degree. A six year indentured apprenticeship is just the beginning.<\/p>\n<p>There is also the misconception that skilled work demands less intellect and hence, the recommended career choice for the less bright student. But intellect alone is not the deciding factor. A recent study that accessed the all-round ability required for different trades and professions, found that the highly skilled mechanical engineer came out above the brain surgeon.<\/p>\n<p>This is not to say that the surgeon is not skilled. Thankfully, a fundamental requirement for the medical profession is practical hands-on experience on the wards. As with all professions, a certificate is not enough. In my engineering apprenticeship days you were not allowed to set foot in the drawing office until you had gained at least seven years practical experience on the shop floor. Nowadays, a graduate that would not know a spanner if one fell on his head goes straight from college to the drawing board.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, I have found salesmen manning market stalls more persuasive than Marketing Managers. Their captivating sales patter cannot be taught in college. In terms of Customer Relations, I would nominate a lady who works behind the counter at a Roseau bread shop in preference to the Executive high on the corporate ladder. As a painter and sculpture, I declared myself as an artist on the pavements of France. I have never spent a day at Art College, but then again, neither did any of the great artists from the past.<\/p>\n<p>I have a profound respect for the skilled man at his workbench. Not only did these men teach me engineering and carpentry, they also instilled in me a love for poetry, music and literature. Let us not forget that the world\u2019s built heritage was the work of carpenters and masons. The world of academia tends to focus on specialization, whereas a skilled and intuitive person is remarkably adaptable. Creativity is all embracing and thrives on doing rather than theorizing.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it was to stress the value of the practical that Jesus came into this world as a carpenter. However, if for his second coming he chooses Dominica, his want of academic qualifications may be frowned upon!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While the Principal of the University of the West Indies Open Campus laments low registration in tertiary institutions of learning and the government\u2019s objective is a degree student in every home, I am making a plea for the practical. Let&#8230;","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":161206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While the Principal of the University of the West Indies Open Campus laments low registration in tertiary institutions of learning and the government\u2019s objective is a degree student in every home, I am making a plea for the practical. Let...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-03T14:13:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"637\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"516\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/51a62154b494e84510be75e846b1cf55\"},\"headline\":\"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-03T14:13:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":559,\"commentCount\":9,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/kester-at-work.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Commentary\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/\",\"name\":\"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical - Dominica News Online\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/kester-at-work.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-03T14:13:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/51a62154b494e84510be75e846b1cf55\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/kester-at-work.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/kester-at-work.jpg\",\"width\":637,\"height\":516,\"caption\":\"Illustration from author's book \u201cCaribbean Sketches\u201d and shows young Kester at the time he was being taught wood carving by Master Craftsman, Louis Desir\u00e9.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dominica News Online\",\"description\":\"The most popular news site in the Commonwealth of Dominica\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/51a62154b494e84510be75e846b1cf55\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bd0b04180c51bc8e59c8d28d7acff1965c4b2afbb02839737980abb592734752?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bd0b04180c51bc8e59c8d28d7acff1965c4b2afbb02839737980abb592734752?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bd0b04180c51bc8e59c8d28d7acff1965c4b2afbb02839737980abb592734752?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/rsanford\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical - Dominica News Online","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical - Dominica News Online","og_description":"While the Principal of the University of the West Indies Open Campus laments low registration in tertiary institutions of learning and the government\u2019s objective is a degree student in every home, I am making a plea for the practical. Let...","og_url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/","og_site_name":"Dominica News Online","article_published_time":"2016-05-03T14:13:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":637,"height":516,"url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/"},"author":{"name":"Admin","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/51a62154b494e84510be75e846b1cf55"},"headline":"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical","datePublished":"2016-05-03T14:13:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/"},"wordCount":559,"commentCount":9,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work.jpg","articleSection":["Commentary"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/","url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/","name":"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical - Dominica News Online","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work.jpg","datePublished":"2016-05-03T14:13:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/51a62154b494e84510be75e846b1cf55"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work.jpg","width":637,"height":516,"caption":"Illustration from author's book \u201cCaribbean Sketches\u201d and shows young Kester at the time he was being taught wood carving by Master Craftsman, Louis Desir\u00e9."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-a-plea-for-the-practical\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"COMMENTARY: A plea for the practical"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/","name":"Dominica News Online","description":"The most popular news site in the Commonwealth of Dominica","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/51a62154b494e84510be75e846b1cf55","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bd0b04180c51bc8e59c8d28d7acff1965c4b2afbb02839737980abb592734752?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bd0b04180c51bc8e59c8d28d7acff1965c4b2afbb02839737980abb592734752?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bd0b04180c51bc8e59c8d28d7acff1965c4b2afbb02839737980abb592734752?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/author\/rsanford\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/kester-at-work.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161207,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161205\/revisions\/161207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}