Dunce’s cap for Phillipson
One of the few successes of the last Conservative administration was in education.
We rose up the international PISA rankings because of the introduction of a new curriculum and a return to more proven, traditional methods.
Now Labour is in power it is already planning to undo this success.
To sum up, it wants all students to be reduced to the common denominator. This is Labour’s instinct when it comes to education.
Exams distinguish the academically able from the rest, and the Left don’t like it.
Its obsession with ‘equality’ means if not every child can achieve academic success, then none should. It is one of the reasons why it hates private schools and grammar schools.
New Education Secretary Bridgette Phillipson has said: “…A*s alone do not set young people up for a healthy and happy life. And where previous governments have had tunnel vision, we will widen our ambition.”
She believes “Wellbeing and belonging hold the key” for improving the lives of young people.
‘Wellbeing’ and ‘belonging’ – two words that sum up the wishy-washy way Labour thinks about education.
Where is ‘discipline’, ‘success’, ‘hard work’, ‘studying’, ‘excellence’ and ‘high standards’?
Well, we know what she thinks of high standards because she has said: “This government will always be strong on standards. But those standards will forever be in the pursuit of what is best for children.”
And what is best for children in Phillipson’s mind? Happiness and health, apparently.
There is nothing wrong with that, but there is no reason why they can’t exist alongside exam success and academic excellence.
Why does she have such low expectations for our children? Why view good exam results as a negative thing?
Why not embrace excellent exam results and add happiness and health as future objectives?
Phillipson also wants more of a focus on sport and music and other subjects perceived as ‘non-academic’.
Again, that is a fine aspiration, but something that can be done alongside that which already happening with our improving exam results.
Subjects such as drama, music and art are an important part of the curriculum and have their place.
I was a drama and theatre studies teacher and also taught English.
However, these subjects can be a part of the curriculum without dumbing down the exam system.
Exams should test the things that matter – highly academic exams for those who show academic ability and other rigorous exams for those who are more vocationally and practically oriented.
We need appropriate education that fits every child, not the dumbing down of standards for all.
Wellbeing comes through accomplishment and a feeling of success – not by making things easy.
The world of work is demanding and we should be preparing children for this and the system must match what is needed.
There is a strong progressive push to abandon the exam system which would be a huge mistake.
Coursework, the alternative, opens the door to cheating. Why? Middle-class parents can assist their child in producing written work and wealthier parents can hire tutors to help.
The real problem with the curriculum is that it is academic across the piste and judges more vocationally- and practically-minded children in the same way as those who are academically capable.
I believe there should be a clear division at 14 – similar to the German system.
Children should follow an academically rigorous path or a vocationally and technologically orientated one.
Our system judges children academically right up to 18. Following this system means around 70 per cent will not really succeed in any significant way because they are being judged by the wrong measure.
This has already led to a dumbing down of the university system with the acceptance of lower grades. And what is even worse is the dumbing down of A Levels.
We now have over 25 per cent of young people achieving A grades when it used to be around 10 per cent. And we now have a 90 per cent pass rate, which used to be around 60 per cent.
We have put too much focus on university by sending 50 per cent in that direction when the bell curve says only around 25-30 per cent are gifted academically.
T Levels are a good initiative and should be developed but we need to steer around 70 per cent of our children in that direction at around 14.
They will be more motivated and will feel they are a success.
Labour can strive to make children healthier and happier, and it can add a focus to drama, art, music and sport – but it should not be done at the expense of academic rigour and exam success.