Post by cleefarqhuar on May 28, 2014 8:22:20 GMT
British secondary education is a shameful mess
It is reported that 25% of kids leave school functionally illiterate (I am not quite sure what that means, but in general standards of literacy [and numeracy] are poor)
Children in inner city areas attend some of the most appalling schools, and any parents with aspirations for their children face a pit of despair - there is simply no alternative for them as they watch their children become corrupted by a shameless nihilism (well there was no alternative before Gove - more on that later). The LA’s are not helped in this struggle by successive government’s policies of mass immigration that ensures that the poorly functioning inner-city schools are flooded with non-English speaking pupils – but then who really cares about the underclass?
For better or worse (normally worse) Councils have a stranglehold on education and use it quite barefacedly for social engineering to suit their (or their political masters’) political purposes. Hence we have schools forced to accept children from 'deprived' homes with the immediate consequence that children from decent hardworking middle class homes adjacent to a good school are forced into 'problem' schools. This shows that such Councils are not fitted to govern education - good schools should be available to all children irrespective of social class, but they are not because of the rigidity of the current educational system.
Poor schools should be allowed to shrink on the vine and good schools to blossom and expand to meet demand (and if the good schools consider that expansion would harm their ethos, then new schools should be created to provide an alternative that meets the demands of concerned parents).
That simply has not happened, at least not until AG (After Gove).
Although this desirable end could presumably be achieved under Council control of schools, it has not and indeed many Councils seem outrightly opposed to the idea.
The solution then is surely to take the control of schools away from Councils and give schools the freedom to succeed or fail. To make this viable, new schools must be created offering a distinct alternative to current schools- that distinct alternative must be the willingness to meet parental demand
Blair started on this route but did not have the balls to see it through
Enter Gove a man with the vision, self-confidence and determination to see it through against the ancient bastions of teacher and leftist reaction, and our appalling educational system is being visibly transformed before our very eyes
Anyone that cares for the education of our children can surely only applaud the courage and effectiveness of this white knight of educational radicalism, Mr Gove?
Surely we all must agree with his direction whilst accepting that hiccups and mistakes will be made on the way?
It is reported that 25% of kids leave school functionally illiterate (I am not quite sure what that means, but in general standards of literacy [and numeracy] are poor)
Children in inner city areas attend some of the most appalling schools, and any parents with aspirations for their children face a pit of despair - there is simply no alternative for them as they watch their children become corrupted by a shameless nihilism (well there was no alternative before Gove - more on that later). The LA’s are not helped in this struggle by successive government’s policies of mass immigration that ensures that the poorly functioning inner-city schools are flooded with non-English speaking pupils – but then who really cares about the underclass?
For better or worse (normally worse) Councils have a stranglehold on education and use it quite barefacedly for social engineering to suit their (or their political masters’) political purposes. Hence we have schools forced to accept children from 'deprived' homes with the immediate consequence that children from decent hardworking middle class homes adjacent to a good school are forced into 'problem' schools. This shows that such Councils are not fitted to govern education - good schools should be available to all children irrespective of social class, but they are not because of the rigidity of the current educational system.
Poor schools should be allowed to shrink on the vine and good schools to blossom and expand to meet demand (and if the good schools consider that expansion would harm their ethos, then new schools should be created to provide an alternative that meets the demands of concerned parents).
That simply has not happened, at least not until AG (After Gove).
Although this desirable end could presumably be achieved under Council control of schools, it has not and indeed many Councils seem outrightly opposed to the idea.
The solution then is surely to take the control of schools away from Councils and give schools the freedom to succeed or fail. To make this viable, new schools must be created offering a distinct alternative to current schools- that distinct alternative must be the willingness to meet parental demand
Blair started on this route but did not have the balls to see it through
Enter Gove a man with the vision, self-confidence and determination to see it through against the ancient bastions of teacher and leftist reaction, and our appalling educational system is being visibly transformed before our very eyes
Anyone that cares for the education of our children can surely only applaud the courage and effectiveness of this white knight of educational radicalism, Mr Gove?
Surely we all must agree with his direction whilst accepting that hiccups and mistakes will be made on the way?