Adults wish they were taught life skills instead of academic subjects

Adults wish they were taught life skills instead of academic subjects at school, study shows

  • Adults wish they were taught skills such as changing a tyre or plastering cracks
  • Money worries headed up the top 20 list of what parents wish they had learned
  • Others wish they had learned how to start a business or cook everyday meals 

We all remember the endless hours spent in our school classrooms learning about declensions, trigonometry or the French future perfect tense.

But it turns out that adults really wish they had been taught practical life skills such as how to change a tyre, write a CV or plaster over holes and cracks.

Money worries headed up the top 20 list of what parents wish they had learned at school – namely how to save cash, advice on budgeting and how to invest.

Adults really wish they had been taught practical life skills such as how to change a tyre, write a CV or plaster over holes and cracks

Others responded they wish they had learned how to cook everyday meals and start a business

The survey of 1,000 parents revealed that how to cook everyday meals and how to start a business were also among skills they regretted not developing.

Others said it would have been useful if teachers could have covered the basics on how to speak publicly and the importance of confidence.

The research, commissioned by online learning service 8billionideas, found nine in ten parents thought self-care skills were more important in adult life than algebra.

Of the 78 per cent of parents that homeschooled their children in the past year, 49 per cent fear their offspring are struggling with maths, while 36 per cent think they’re behind in English.

It also emerged 83 per cent think ‘life skills’ programmes should be offered to kids at school – delivering knowledge about how to budget or start a business.

Nearly half of parents don’t feel prepared enough to teach their kids important life skills.

While two thirds of children learn life skills from their parents, 29 per cent say their kids pick up learnings from YouTube, according to the survey.

Practical life skills parents think their kids have picked up from being at home in the last year include cooking and cleaning.

More than a quarter said they’ve learned how to look after their mental health – and 25 per cent have used maths in real life situations.

TOP 20 THINGS PARENTS WISH THEY LEARNED AT SCHOOL

1. How to save money

2. How to organize your finances e.g. budgeting

3. How to invest money

4. How to look after your mental health

5. How tax works

6. The importance of confidence

7. How to cook everyday meals

8. How to start a business

9. How to buy a house

10. How to create a CV

11. How to present yourself at a job interview

12. How Maths is used in real life

13. How to step out of your comfort zone

14. How to maintain a home

15. How to speak publicly e.g. presentations

16. How to change a car tyre

17. How to put up wallpaper

18. How to plaster over holes and cracks

19. How to put up a shelf

20. How to code

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