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…
It infuriates children and often irritates parents. Many teachers can do without it and progressive educationalists want it abolished. But homework for primary school children is important – and the pandemic has shown just why. Before Covid came it was the case that most state primary children were not being taught to be independent learners.…
Australia and Scotland might be in different hemispheres but when it comes to education they are on the same plane. In 2010 both nations introduced new curriculums that were heavily influenced by progressive thinking. Oddly for school curriculums, ‘knowledge’ was downgraded as an ambition and was instead replaced by a more generic approach. There was…
I was recently interviewed by the Daily telegraph about a story in which Lord Kenneth Baker – a former Education Secretary – said GCSEs ought to be abolished. As the person who introduced the exams this is quite a U-turn, something his Prime Minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher, was not keen on doing. Lord…