The problem is, people finish their CS study, and do not have such level of knowledge that they could start working right away. So Haskell might be nice, but is hardly a sought for skill. Sure if students would learn different stuff by themselves, they could learn useful skills too, but most of the students are lazy, and only learn what they have to.
The pursuit of knowledge shouldn't be dampened by silly things like getting a job. It's computer science after all.
Aside from that, learning Haskell at university has eventually made me a better programmer. It gives you a whole other world outlook and that's useful once you finally start figuring out how to build reasonable software.
"The pursuit of knowledge shouldn't be dampened by silly things like getting a job."
Here's how I just read this: "The pursuit of what makes me look good shouldn't be dampened by silly things like serving people other than myself".
And than just to dampen that statement, you added "Haskell made me a better programmer", which clearly implies you got a job, serving the needs of others.
Would it be fair to say you are more concerned with looking good than serving others, based solely off what you said? Correct me if I'm wrong please.
I'm not the person you're addressing, but - yes, you're wrong. (And an asshole to boot, but that's another issue.)
"Getting a job" has absolutely nothing to do with "serving others," except maybe in the slavery sense of "serving," depending on your politics. The point is that universities are supposed to be dedicated to knowledge and understanding for their own sakes. It's not about "looking good," and I have absolutely no idea where you got that from. It's about learning, in whatever way best expands your understanding of the world, yourself, and the absract.
It is de facto vocational school, though, since the demand for jobs generally outstrips the demand for labor and employers decided university credentials were indicative of what they were looking for.
No, the worst is when you get to talk with people fresh out of college who "know" all the latest industry hype but still can't put basic programs together, lack basic problem solving skill and basic algorithmic thinking.
Sure, teach them some practical get-a-job stuff, but also teach them how to learn, how to solve problems, the different tools (functional, OO, logic, low-level etc) available and make sure they can solve real problems on their own.
