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The education system is not what
is once was. The Blair Government since 1997 has thrown tens of billions at
Education - and much of this has had a positive impact in improving at least the
basic facilities for the nations
children. Yet is the education system providing the right sort of teaching that is relevant
to today's children, and which helps provide the skills necessary to service our country's
needs ?
The
school children of today are swamped with exams, endless assessments which have
been seen to cause un-necessary stress to students of all ages. Are most of
these exams really necessary, who do they really benefit?
Introduction
The UK education system is forever
been tinkered with. The examinations system seems to be in a perpetual state of
change, not only confusing the students themselves and their teachers, but
leaving employers utterly confused as to what constitutes a 'successful' student.
Is the UK Education system failing our children ?
Key Proposals
Pre-secondary level ( pre.age 10/11) : Under devp.
Secondary schools (age 10-18) : Under devp.
Curriculum issues
Schools should have the ability to specialise in particular areas. This has happened to a very limited extent so far, and the idea is great in principle. The basic key skills - numeracy/literacy as ever should be taught, yet the head of each school should be able to recruit teachers on the basis of what type of local business/industry exist. For example, if the local industry is predominantly tech related, then why should the head not be able to recruit more teachers who are specialist in technical matters.
Dreaming of more relevant classes ?
Home schooling
Some 90-100,000 children in the UK are schooled at home in the UK. The reasons
why parents elect this route are varied, ranging from their local school being
'lousy', irrelevant curriculum, or just plainly that they believe they can bring
up their children better than someone else can.
Home tuition should be supported
and encouraged, and indeed financially supported. For each child who is home
schooled, the state should help fund cost of books and other basic requirements
for the home student. The fact that the state is not paying for the vast costs
of formally teaching the student and funding the mainstream facilities,
means overall the state saves money.
There is no reason - especially in outlying local/rural areas, why small groups
of parents should not get together, and have small group teaching to their
children, and be subsidised for doing so.
University
The grant system will be reintroduced for a select group of courses.
Religious schools
The state shall not finance ANY religious schools. The government shall
not be seen to ever endorse any religion - the Americans have such a policy, and
for any multi-cultural society this policy is the way to go.
*for the many Christian (or whatever church) schools that exist in the UK, these
schools are going to have to
recognise that tax payers money should not be given to support any particular faith -
that is NOT what central government is designed for.
---
Q. Should religious mainstream
schooling be banned ?
This is a very contentious issue, and I remain open to ideas. As things are,
there now increasing numbers of schools which are open to only students of an
Islamic faith. Do we really want to allow the segregation of little children
into separate 'faith' based schools ? It does not seem to me like a progressive
way to improve the multi-cultural attitude of this country.
Conclusion
The education of our children is the paramount factor in the success of the UK.
If the education system fails, then not only will the economy fail, the society
itself will fail. Even today, rates of illiteracy in young people are still
shockingly high. How can children get through over a decade of schooling and
still not be able to read and write to even a basic level. The endless exams
that children of all ages are forced to sit are generally of very little benefit
to anyone.
Since resources are limited, at University level, funds should be targeted to professions which are suffering acute skills shortages - dentistry, teaching, and doctors are obvious examples of professions which the UK has a shortage of.
Links
UK
Adult illiteracy : Summary article based on a Unicef report stating that 10%
of the UK adult popn. are illiterate
Education in the UK : Guardian
online education section, useful as a great reference for developments in UK
education standards/policy.
Dept. for Education & Skills :
Official UK govt. site, promoting life long education for all.
Higher Education Strategy : Special BBC on student funding/policy in the UK
Home Schooling...
Home Education : Supporting the
parents of the 90,000 children who rely upon home schooling for their
education
Education Otherwise : Provides
Support to people interested in home schooling their children
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Page last updated :
23/07/2004
