Greater focus needed on vocational education; countries take 'college premium' too seriously: Tharman

Washington

COUNTRIES have taken too seriously the expected boost in pay that college graduates get over their non-college educated peers, despite the bottom quarter of graduates not earning this "college premium" in reality, said Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam at an economics conference on Thursday.

This focus on pushing high-school graduates into universities has also led to a massive mismatch between people's abilities and the needs of the marketplace, said Mr Tharman, who called for a greater focus on vocational education in advanced economies.