What is the point of education? This is the question one Oxford University student found himself asking in his recently self-published book.

JP Ay is a 22-year-old Oxford University student at St Hilda’s College. He is in his fourth year of an integrated master’s degree in biochemistry and, until he turned 18, he went to a private boys' school in London.

Despite benefitting from a private education, Mr Ay now says there are life skills to be learned beyond an academia to prepare people for the 'real world'.

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This year he wrote and published a book titled ‘What’s the Point of School: How the Current Education System is Failing to Prepare Students for the Real World’.

At the age of 18, Mr Ay took a break from school because of a mental health problem. It was during this time away from the 'school bubble' that he started to question if school was helpful.

Later, when he got a job at a department store in London, he had shocking revelation.

Oxford Mail: JP Ay Oxford University Bio Chemistry student JP Ay Oxford University Bio Chemistry student

He said: “Speaking to the staff there it made me realise a lot of these people were working there because they wanted the money, not because they enjoyed it, not because they wanted to be there. It was a shock to me to realise, you go to school, you choose the subject at A-Levels you want to study and then you end up doing a job you don’t want to do just for money.”

For Mr Ay the 'disconnect' between school and the real world became even more obvious to him when he volunteered for the NHS in the first coronavirus lockdown.

He said: “It made me realise there are people working on the front line, who are doing what they enjoy, helping patients and they are not paid as much, and that didn’t make sense to me.”

He added: “Schools are pushing students to become an employee of mega corporations but not actually go after their passions.”

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The book has a breakdown of the major subjects taught at school, starting with the fundamentals of maths, English, and sport.

Mr Ay also focuses on the topic of 'financial literacy' as he believes simple skills such as being able to fill out a tax return and understand how mortgages work are vital – and yet are not taught at school.

The Oxford student does not want to take any subjects away from the curriculum, but instead add everyday skills that are needed in the 'real world'.

He said: “I think schools should add more life skill modules. For example, with PHSE, you could look at financial literacy. Maybe for six weeks you look at debt and the very simple thing of how to fill out a tax return.”

He added: “For Chemistry, I think a module of industrial chemistry where pupils can have a brief conversation with somebody working in lab, to understand that real science doesn’t work all the time. In school it may do because they set up the experiment that way. If you do not get immediate results first time round you keep persevering.”

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Mr Ay wants to include an awareness of the world beyond school and exams, through networking, work experience and practical classes.

And, as a former private schoolboy, he warns of inequalities in the education system.

He said: “I went to an independent private school which was a very good school, and Oxford is a really good university. If even I am saying ‘hold on a minute, if you look back at school there are so many things we have missed’ and I had quite a good education, I worry about those who did not get such a good education, what have they missed on top of what I have missed.”

Ultimately, Mr Ay said he wants to see schools encourage students to follow their passions. He fears some students apply to university only to realise five years down the line that they do not like their graduate job.

The final chapter of the book is titled ‘so, what is the point of school and how can you improve your future?’ It is in this chapter that he explores how people can make a personal change.

He said: “You may not be able to change the school curriculum for you, but what you can do is take the bits that you like, follow your passions and look for opportunities and learn the skills you think you have missed.”

Mr Ay said that all this thinking about the curriculum has made him more uncertain about what he wants to do in the future.

He said: “I do not know what I want to do, and I think that is fine. Maybe I should wait to walk the walk before I talk the talk. But I am opening students’ eyes and maybe parents’ eyes.”

Although he is not sure what career path he plans to take, he said he enjoyed writing and publishing his own book which is available on Amazon as an eBook worldwide for £3.99 and paperback in the UK for £8.99.

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