The last few years have proven educational and many political issues in the UK fall short in winning economic favour, success and trust. Let us hope the new government can learn from the past. The educational secretary, Michael Grove hopefully will ensure learning in school becomes strategic; grooming our children to become future commercial, economic and political leaders, rather than tactical policies concentrating on targets and school league tables.
If we are to compare our results we have slipped woefully down the international ranking. Our educational performance clattering around the “also rans” in most analyses. Literacy and numeracy achievement has consistently rung alarm bells. We are producing children ill equipped for the transition from primary to secondary school, and ultimately into employment. It would seem the focus on SAT’s as a means of generating schools performance league tables has clouded the assiduous decline in our global competitiveness.
Years ago the British educational standard was second to known. Our natural affinity with the English language gave an edge in most international environments. But times have changed. Modern communications, global enterprises and the internet has sparked a huge growth in the use of English. We now compete with emerging countries and we are loosing the race. Standards of education overseas have significantly overtaken the UK. We have a lot to learn.
The current key performance indicator in the form of SAT’s has been scorned by a large portion of the teaching profession. They have manipulated the education of hundreds of thousands of children and caused controversy, stress and a general decline in the depth and range of the national curriculum. Understandably Head Teachers have adopted defence mechanisms rather than a progressive approach to teaching. There has been a staggering loss of talent and commitment in the schooling process. And our children are the clear losers.
Michael Grove needs a fresh approach, and I don’t mean just changing the name of the department. The DCSF did not mention education in its nomenclature and therein possibly its downfall. We need a refreshed curriculum and educational policies that encourage teachers and students alike. We need some fun and educational games to enliven the atmosphere in school to encourage learning and enlist its continuance with parents at home.
My plea to the new Educational Secretary is to use his considerable skill and political wit to evolve a system that can last for years. That will encourage the teaching profession to adopt a progressive approach and provide the academic clout that the UK needs to compete in global markets. One hell of a task as we are way behind in all three areas.
School league tables are a divisive mess, The recent boycott by around 1000 primary schools to support Key Stage 2 SAT tests demonstrates a fundamental flaw in the educational policy. The focus on targets has been at the expense of learning. Our children have suffered from a narrowed band of educational curriculum in order to tick boxes and achieve league table status for school and the DCSF.
Skilled tacticians in schools have learnt to manipulate the results to gain maximum advantage and avoid the “school police,” OFSTED becoming involved, The DCSF have been the winners gathering kudos from the apparent achievement, but the bottom line is a tragic deterioration in numeracy and literacy as schools adopt short term measures.
Children have been poorly treated for a generation and ill prepared for secondary school and a career. Time now for the secretary of State for education to review the current system, start afresh and put 13 years of malpractice in the skip. Time now to listen to the guys at the sharp in education. They are called teachers and 450,000 of them to provide a reasonably accurate sample.
