Unproductive extension of schooling

As entry into jobs has come to depend more and more on formal qualifications and diplomas, attendance at courses has become mandatory for an ever-lengthening list of occupations, while entry on personal recommendations is relied on less frequently, especially in low-level and routine jobs, and advancement through on-the-job performance or training is becoming less frequent. Indirect consequences have been the lengthening in school life, encouragement of diploma hunting, and proliferation of private schools and courses in developed as well as developing countries, some of which have been a lucrative source of income for their organizers but are of dubious academic or professional worth.