I can't help but think this actually sums up the difference between our two major parties. Whether or not the Tory plans for Social Enterprise Zones are costed or not, at least they are trying a "carrot" approach, rather than a stick. Labour has spent more than ten years saying "no" and " don't do that" with little or no effect. That is, of course, in terms of things improving in deprived areas. They have had an effect - but negative.
I read today that 40% of primary school leavers are unable to read or write, never mind add and subtract. What happened to " Education, education,education?" Amazingly wonderful sound bite, excellent policy, complete non-performance - in fact I also read today that GCSE's are effectively two grades down from 10 years ago. This doesn't help anyone - not universities ( ours are slipping down world league tables because of the imposition of useless students and the snaffling of many of our best by America on Scholarships) - not employers, who have to retrain staff in order to get any worthwhile work out of them - and, most importantly, not the students themselves, who are being condemned to a life of flipping burgers.
Our forebears were religious in their insistence on children learning, understanding and knowing. Now they know nothing, beyond who the latest non-celebrity is shagging.
So lets allow local people, local organisations and local areas decide their own fates. Take schools away from local authorities and give them their own budgets. It worked magnificently for doctors surgeries until NuLabour came along and messed it all up.
Even Janet Daley has decided that local is good.
And if it means private capital making it work, then I'm all for it.
2 comments:
Good idea KL. The less the Govt's involved in education, the better. I read today that history's slowly slipping away as children can drop it at 14, same with languages and geography. (Why they still call them Modern Languages when Latin and Greek barely feature these days, is beyond me.) Sixthformers are choosing media studies and photography as perceived "vocational courses" which underlines your point of the influence of "celebrity culture". o tempora o mores
I read a thing the other day about usage of Latin in everyday language.
Something like 99% of people interviewed had no idea what eg,ie and et al meant ( never mind the Latin). The sad part is that therefore they actually had no idea what sentences with these abbreviations in them meant.
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