Fast-food Chain Serves Up Degree Course

快餐連鎖店提供學位課程

Against a background of controversial plans to triple university tuition fees, students feeling the pinch might be tempted by a new degree course where you can study while working full time.

The new qualification will be offered by fast-food chain McDonald's, who are launching their own two-year foundation degree in business management for restaurant bosses in the UK.

Their aptly-named Hamburger University in North London has been training McDonald's managers since the late 70s, and will now add accredited degrees to the menu for the first time.

Traditionally, working at the hamburger chain has often been seen as a less-than-desirable vocation, even giving rise to its own slang word: the dreaded 'McJob'.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a McJob is an "unstimulating, low-paid job with no prospects".

But McDonald's senior vice-president David Fairhurst says the course challenges these misconceptions about the employer.

"The old 'McJob' label is lazy and snobbish", he says.

The course is a demonstration of how seriously the company takes the training of its staff, says Mr Fairhurst. He also wishes for the company to be seen as a "pioneer" in educating employees.

"People no longer want to choose between jobs and education. They should not be parallel universes," he says.

The new degree will be taught by a combination of classroom study, e-learning and training in the workplace.

However, McDonald's is not the only company which is developing its own qualifications. Department store Harrods has set up its own degree course, and Microsoft awarded qualifications to 17,500 people in the UK last year.