It seems to me that an alternative interpretation of “businesses placing increasing importance on recruits having ‘soft skills’ such as team-working” (TES, August 22) is “businesses are increasingly reluctant to make the investment in training needed to improve their human resources”.
Suppose I am a “top 10 to 15 per cent” student. When the educational system is geared to individual grades, where is the advantage in co-operating with a group of students not committed to the hard work needed?
While you report the employers’ lament that high academic achievers are not so hot when it comes to co-operative teamwork, the good news is that teamwork is a learned skill. Since it is the employer (who hires individuals, not teams) who benefits most from these teamwork skills, then is it not most appropriate that the employer be the one to organise and fund the necessary training?
Paying for these activities for the benefit of all students, during school holidays, would be the “team-spirited” thing to do.
Stephen Nightingale Clitheroe Lancashire
