The debate on education sometimes takes an interesting dimension that shows students are, after all, not just passive clients of the educational system. In one of the University graduation ceremonies this week, a new management graduate questioned the relevance of the training she received to the workplace she soon hopes to be employed in.

She noted that “lectures alone do not prepare students for the workplace”. Yet, Christian Scerri, from the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, called “for the University to be distinguished from an employee producing institution”.

How can one reconcile these apparently divergent views on what the real value of education should be?

The dichotomy between the world of academia and the workplace is a reality that could threatens a country’s future economic prosperity. Unless academics understand the dynamics of a strong economy, they can never meet the expectations of the stakeholders in the educational system.

The competition that exists in most economic activities connected with the new economy means employers expect the graduates they employ are well-prepared for the real world of work and can cope with a steep learning curve. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. While employers rarely pronounce themselves publicly on the shortcomings of the educational system, they certainly have strong views on what new graduates bring to their business and these views are not always positive.

Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Marks and Spencer, in 2009 addressed the Confederation of British Industry and expressed a universal concern of many employers when he said: “There is a lot of money being spent on education but we want to make sure that what is required is being met by what is produced. Sometimes, there is a mismatch and we’re not always getting what we need.”

There is, no doubt, a humanistic aspect to University education. A University student should develop analytical, thinking, communication and entrepreneurial skills that will help him/her to become a better member of society. But employers also expect that skills acquired in the lecture rooms can be used to solve the problems businesses face on the shop floor, in the office and the boardroom.

The dichotomy between academia and the business world can be eliminated if both academics and business leaders promote a healthy symbiosis between them.

Business leaders need to encourage more University students to gain practical experience by offering them internships and other practical training opportunities. They should also offer their more successful managers the possibility to lecture University students on the practical aspects of running a business. Ideally, they should provide financial support to higher educational institutions by sponsoring educational programmes that add value to students’ academic training.

Academics too have an important role to play to promote effective cooperation with the business world. They need to meet the leaders of businesses regularly for a reality check on the effectiveness of the knowledge they are imparting to students. They should also spend some time working in organisations that operate in the real economy so they can supplement their theoretical knowledge.

There will always be tensions between academics and the other stakeholders of the educational system because their respective expectations can be so different. But in real life a graduate needs to find suitable work to achieve self-fulfilment. The educational system must, therefore, cater for the needs of employers who provide such work.