O level & A level

I love discussing and debating things. More often my debate partner is my better half and then there are some smart friends who would like to stay anonymous. This topic was one of those that I enjoyed arguing about. It is amazing to evaluate people’s actions and use them to segment the population into categories. Only recently we were discussing actions of our maid, some of our acquaintances, a waiter in a restaurant, folks from work and the discussion quickly led to the difference between O level & A level education. (O-level education is the ordinary level which includes at least four science courses the typical high school level in the United States and A-level is the advanced level one studies at the university.)

So what is the difference and who cares? I think we ought to! O-level education prepares us in the general ability to compare and contrast, logical thinking, judgment and reason. A-level on the other hand enables us to focus on a specific interest area like accounting, finance, computing, mechanics, electronics, etc. The fundamentals from O-level play a vital part in our overall performance during and after the A-level. If O-level fundamentals are not established the logic and reason fails in every faculty, professional and personal.

Then why is it that when corporations hire individuals they are more interested in ones A-level as against the O-level? Or do we just assume that the silent endorsement from that the A-level institution implies that O-level has been perfected?

I don’t think so!