Jayne Dowle: We all need plumbers, not more pen-pushers

I wish I had already known about young Joe's talents. Mowing the lawn is just one of the many jobs around the house I hate. Dusting, bathroom-cleaning, sorting out the freezer…the flesh is willing, but the mind is weak. I do them, but I just don't have any natural skill or ability. It's not that I wasn't taught. My mother gave my sister and I jobs every Sunday. Mine were hanging out the washing and ironing. I moaned, but I am eternally grateful to her for teaching me how to press a shirt. And I still get an immense amount of satisfaction from a line of sheets billowing in the wind.

I am keen that my own two children learn how to do things around the house too. So I was fascinated to read a survey from The Children's Society which said that at least three-quarters of 11 to 16-year-olds have never loaded a washing machine or cleaned the bathroom, two-thirds don't touch the iron and 92 per cent have yet to do the weekly shop.

It was designed to highlight the plight of young carers who lose out on their childhood because they have to do everything for sick or disabled parents. This is immensely sad, but we can all appreciate the importance of teaching young people practical tasks. If we don't, how will they look after themselves when they leave home?

A childhood spent in front of the television or computer is no way to equip them with the skills required in the real world. And being able to garden, cook or mend a car are all useful things which can be turned into real careers.

It is never too early to learn the simple economic equation that doing jobs earns treats. So far, Jack, almost eight, is unimpressed with the idea of mowing the lawn. But if I don't mind how much cleaning spray he squirts, he is delighted to give the shower a good fettle. His sister, Lizzie, four, is already raring to go. On Sunday morning I had to separate her forcibly from the peeler when I caught her at the chopping board attacking the carrots.

And who knows, they might both prove to be better than their mother at practical skills and earn some money with them in the future. I don't think any of the major contract cleaning firms have much to worry about in the way of competition from Jack – his profit margins would be rubbish for a start – but if that's the way they want to go, then I

will go all out to encourage them.

I am full of respect for people who use their hands to make a living. Like my friend Shelley, who takes huge pride in her ability to cook, clean, garden and bake. She is so good at it, she cleans for other people and takes in ironing. And why not? My mother had cleaning jobs when we were small, because it was the only work she could get to fit in with school hours. My husband has a degree in geology, but has spent his life as a sound engineer, mending microphones and fixing cables.

Some people are good at maths, so they become accountants. Some people are good at communicating, so they work in sales, or customer services. Some people are super-organised, so run their own business or the life of someone else, as personal assistants. And some people are really good at practical tasks. Why should these skills be devalued? They are just as important as being able to type, or do a presentation, or input a load of figures. Yet in the drive for education, education,

education, thousands of young people have had it drummed into them that the only way to get ahead is to get a degree.

With massive cuts to higher education and rises in tuition fees inevitable, it is time to encourage our children to make the most of all their talents. Far better that than seeing them faff around for three years with no promise of a job at the end of it.

For inspiration, we parents could do worse than look to Dr Matthew Crawford, the new poster boy for Conservative education ministers Michael Gove and David Willetts. A mechanic from Virginia, Crawford took up repairing motorbikes a decade ago when his career in academia stalled. His book, The Case for Working with Your Hands argues that being practical is far more rewarding than toiling away at some dead-end pen-pushing office job. And think about it. That's rewarding in more ways than one.

We could all live without a Civil Enforcement Officer or an Equality and Diversity Co-ordinator, but none of us can survive without a plumber.