para 2.It is no secret that competition is the driving force behind the need to obtain increasingly higher qualifications. In the majority of cases， the urge to upgrade is no longer the result of an insatiable thirst for knowledge. The pressure is coming from within the workplace to compete with ever more qualified job applicants， and in many occupations one must now battle with colleagues in the reshuffle for the position one already holds.
para 3.Striving to become better educated is hardly a new concept. Wealthy parents have always been willing to spend the vast amounts of extra money necessary to send their children to schools with a perceived educational edge. Working adults have long attended night schools and refresher courses. Competition for employment has been around since the curse of working for a living began. Is the present situation so very different to that of the past？
para 4. The difference now is that the push is universal and from without as well as within. A student at secondary school receiving low grades is no longer as easily accepted by his or her peers as was once the case. Similarly， in the workplace， unless employees are engaged in part-time study， they may be frowned upon by their employers and peers and have difficulty even standing still. In fact， in these cases， the expectation is for careers to go backwards and earning capacity to take an appreciable nosedive.
para 5.At first glance， the situation would seem to be laudable； a positive response to the exhortation by a former Prime Minister， Bob Hawke， for australia to become the ‘clever country‘. Yet there are serious ramifications according to at least one educational psychologist. Dr Brendan Gatsby has caused some controversy in academic circles by suggesting that a bias towards what he terms ‘paper‘excellence might cause more problems than it is supposed to solve. Gatsby raises a number of issues that affect the individual as well as society in general.
