For decades, universities and businesses have complained that many coming through the school system have sub-standard literacy and numeracy skills. While the 2014 National Curriculum changes were a move in the right direction, the problem remains. The boss of John Lewis, Dame Sharon White, has recently disclosed that the business is giving basic English and…
The Prime Minister has been criticised for saying that wealthier parents can buy private tuition because they ‘work hard’. It is true that many people who work hard can afford tutors for their children. Many parents also make sacrifices and forego other things to be able to afford the tuition. And it is also true…
There was a telling announcement in the Queen’s Speech that revealed the disastrous policy of Tony Blair’s in wanting half of the youngsters to go to university. The Queen read out the government’s policy platform that included ‘turbo-charging the economic recovery by seizing the opportunities of Brexit, investing in infrastructure and delivering a lifetime skills…
Standards at universities should be high and academic excellence ought to be the aim. However, in order to ‘decolonise’ the curriculum and ensure ‘equity of opportunity’, the theory of ‘inclusive assessment’ has infected our once-great institutions of learning. This phrase is a euphemism for the further erosion of standards – the opposite of what universities…
Needless to say, teaching unions have baulked at the suggestion that the school day or term-time should be lengthened in order for students to catch up on work missed during lockdown. The unions exist to represent the interests of their members and that is their priority. They can’t be criticised for this, but it does…