BUTCHER Matthew Cumiskey shows what can go wrong with our school system.
He admits to hating life in the classroom but his imagination and a vocation in life was sparked when he did work experience at a Huddersfield butchers.
In fact, he liked it so much he’s now bought the business.
Even though he left school with just one GCSE in PE, the fact that he has now opened his own butchery business in Huddersfield town centre proves he’s a grafter, not a shirker.
It makes you wonder if there are enough alternatives in schools to grab the interest of youngsters who are more likely to go down a trade rather than an academic route in the future.
Matthew is certainly determined to do his bit by employing other youngsters who have found the world of work far preferable to the classroom.
Several schools are now rethinking their policies on work experience with some considering scrapping it altogether.
Perhaps it should be tailored more for those pupils who anticipate entering the labour market sooner than those who are opting for college and then university.
It’s important to keep youngsters interested in school and if they see its relevance in the working environment it may just inspire them to keep going ... and learning.
